Large businesses are obliged to publically report energy and carbon use under new streamlined Government regulations.

Under the new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations, which come into play from April 2019, unquoted companies will have to report their energy use and emissions relating to gas, electricity and transport, and an intensity metric, through their company’s annual reports.

Quoted companies will have to continue to report their global GHG emissions and an intensity metric, and additionally start to report their global total energy use.

The new regulations replace the unpopular and overly complex CRC Energy Efficiency scheme, which will be scrapped when SECR is introduced.

They fall in line with the Government’s goal to enable businesses and industry to improve energy efficiency by at least 20 per cent by 2030; helping them to improve productivity and competitiveness as part of its Industrial and Clean Growth Strategies.

This relies upon businesses working together to unlock any potential energy and emission savings to help keep bills as low as possible and to support delivery of our ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Will this affect my business?

YES if you are a:

  • UK quoted company (whose shares are listed on the Stock Exchange).
  • Large UK incorporated unquoted company or limited liability partnership (with more than 250 employees or an annual turnover in excess of £36m and an annual balance sheet in excess of £18m).

NO if you are a:

  • Company for who obtaining and publishing the required information is considered ‘seriously prejudicial’ to the interests of the company.
  • Company with energy consumption lower than 40,000 kWh during the reporting year.

What does this mean for my business?

The impacts of the new legislation will vary dependent on what you are currently required to report on.

If you are already reporting under the existing Mandatory Carbon Reporting, the change will be minimal, except for the addition of detail about energy use and energy efficiency measures.

If you are reporting and purchasing credits in the CRC EES, then the new SECR regulations will replace these, so it will be very much business as usual.

The biggest change will be for businesses who are not currently reporting for either of these schemes, those, for example, who are obliged to submit a return for the ESOS scheme.