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CRC begins: what does it mean for your business?

Businesses must comply with new energy regulations from today, or risk being fined thousands of pounds.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment programme, which begins today, effects businesses and organisations that consume more than 6,000 megawatt hours of energy each year.

Businesses must buy allowances to cover their CO2 emissions. The cost of allowances are initially fixed at £12 per tonne of CO2.

Around 5,000 organisations will take part in the first draft of the programme. They will need to sign up to the scheme by September or risk being fined £5,000.

Businesses have complained that there has been ‘inadequate’ guidance to the new regulations, according to the new npower Business Energy Index.

Up until yesterday, nearly half of respondents to npower’s survey said that they didn’t know what was required of them to buy carbon allowances, and 44 per cent were unclear on forecasting their CO2 emissions.

Npower said that the findings are “indicative of a general lack of business support for government targets to reduce CO2 and a “waning belief in the commercial benefits of a small carbon footprint”.

The study found that three quarters of businesses thought that the UK’s legally-binding target to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 was unrealistic.

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