CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Update

Qualification for Phase 1 was based on the calendar year 2008 and runs from 1 April 2010 until 31 March 2014.

From April 2012 participating businesses will have to purchase allowances to cover their 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 carbon emissions at £12 per carbon tonne. Revenues from allowance sales, totalling £1 billion a year by 2014-15, is now being used to support the public finances, rather than recycled to participants.  The carbon allowance price will be increased as the scheme progresses.

The qualification year for Phase 2 is 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, which will run for 6 years from 1 April 2013 until 31 March 2019.

Businesses with one or more half hourly meters but using less than 6,000 MWh of electricity through half hourly meters will no longer have to register as Information Declarers, saving around 11,750 businesses from having to register their details again for Phase 2.

The Performance League Table will continue to be used as the main driver of the CRC scheme.

The Government has proposed making the following changes to the CRC scheme from Phase 2, for which registration begins in April 2013, and will publish draft legislative proposals in early 2012 :

• Reducing the number of fuels covered by the scheme from 29 fuels to 4, electricity, gas, kerosene and diesel for heating.
• Moving to two sales a year with fixed price allowance sales from the start of phase 2 in 2014
• Simplify the organisational rules to abolish the need for large businesses to participate in groups which do not reflect their natural structure.
• Make qualification a one step process so participants just will just have to prove they use a certain amount of electricity from their qualifying meter.
• Reducing overlap with other schemes with any CCA or EU ETS site being automatically exempt from the CRC scheme.

We are helping our clients to understand and comply with the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, as part of our overall electricity and gas management and consultancy service.

It is essential that all businesses and organisations which may be covered by the scheme refer directly to the rules, guidelines and literature provided by the Environmental Agency to check their own position for themselves.