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As a business owner, you will no doubt will be familiar with the impact energy saving has on your bills. By saving energy, you are not only lowering your bills; you will also be reducing your carbon footprint, which has a significant impact on working towards a net zero future.
However, if you own a large business, you may be aware of ESOS (Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme), But do you know what ESOS is? Find out how it can benefit you and your business.
What is ESOS?
ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment scheme; this was introduced to ensure large organisations based in the UK are energy efficient. The scheme was first introduced in July 2014 with the hope to reduce energy consumption by 20% by 2020.
ESOS requires organisations that meet the qualification criteria to audit and report at least 90% of their energy usage to The Environment Agency every four years. ESOS has four phases and deadlines for submission.
Who needs to comply with ESOS?
If your business falls under any of the below, you may need to be ESOS compliant.
– You have over 250 members of staff
– A turnover of over £44.1m
– An annual balance sheet of over 43 million Euros (£37.9m)
– You are an overseas organisation with over 250 employees in the UK
– Your company is part of a larger organisation, which falls into any of the above.
ESOS has four phases and deadlines for submission.
Phase 1 was first completed in July 2014
Phase 2 was completed 5th December 2019
The future deadlines agreed are:
Phase 3 Deadline: 5th December 2023
Phase 4 Deadline: 5th December 2027
Why is ESOS important?
ESOS helps raise awareness of energy consumption issues and ensures that your company is running as energy efficient as possible, highlighting where you could be making savings on your energy usage. ESOS allows organisations to conduct an in-depth review of their energy use; this will enable businesses to reduce their usage and costs whilst helping to tackle climate change, whilst leading the UK towards a higher level of energy security.
What are you required to do to comply with ESOS?
This must detail your organisation’s total energy use during that time period, including energy consumed by transport. You will then need to identify assets and activities that account for at least 90% of your total energy consumption.
The data you collect for your energy audit must:
Your data should be verifiable, so you should provide proof where possible, whether in the form of invoices, meter readings, stock records or similar. If you cannot provide verifiable data on your energy use, you will need to explain why in your evidence pack and give a reasonable estimate of your consumption instead.
If your organisation is required to complete the scheme, you must ensure you meet the deadline to avoid government penalties of up to £90k.
How can we help?
As data collection, emissions calculations and reporting implications will vary from business to business it is important to plan accordingly. To check whether your business may be required to produce ESOS energy and carbon reports, or to understand how to meet the data collection requirement please contact Beond on 0208 634 7533 or email us at info@beondgroup.com.
