Large companies who are eligible under the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) were required to complete their ESOS compliance notification by 5 December. Those unable to comply were required to notify the Environment Agency.
The ESOS Regulations were introduced by the Government to encourage energy efficiency and require large enterprises to conduct mandatory energy audits every four years. This covers all organisations that have over 250 members of staff or a turnover of over £38,939,000 and an annual balance sheet total in excess of £33,486,000.
On 27 November the Environment Agency reported that only 1682 companies had fulfilled their compliance requirements, of an estimated 9000 who qualified.
Additionally, a further 543 companies had informed the Agency that they would not be in a position to complete their audits by the December deadline. This combined total of 2225 firms represents around 16% of those eligible under the scheme that have so far fulfilled their obligations.
It was decided in October to "extend" the ESOS submission date to 29 January 2016 to allow more time to complete the audit process. However, the Environment Agency has said it will start enforcing the Regulations after this deadline and failure may result in civil penalties.
Firms that take the ISO 50001 energy management system route will have until 30 June to provide evidence from the certification body that the organisation is on track to complete the process.
For more information, see the:
