ESOS Phase 2 – Deadline Approaching

By this date (5th December 2019) all companies that qualify for ESOS must have submitted notification of their compliance with the Environment Agency (EA) or risk enforcement action. There is still a considerable amount of work to do to ensure that all of the ~10,000 qualifying organisations are fully compliant.

Penalties for non-compliance are high

Fines for non-compliance could be severe and scheme regulators will issue fixed penalties for a variety of offences. These include:

• Failing to notify of compliance or to maintain sufficient records (up to £5,000)
• Failing to undertake compliance activities or making misleading statements (up to £50,000 plus £500 per day up to 80 days)

Businesses that are subject to a penalty will have their details published online.

An arduous task if not prepared

In order to ensure compliance, businesses need to calculate their total energy consumption; this can be an onerous task if sound internal data collection processes are not already in place. Appropriate compliance activities should then be completed covering significant energy consumption or 90% of total energy consumption. Finally, ESOS compliance must be reviewed and signed-off by a qualified Lead Assessor, of which there are a limited number.

Environment Agency external audit

ESOS compliance is subject to an external audit by the Environment Agency (EA). As such it is critical for businesses to ensure compliance activities are delivered to a high standard. In ESOS Phase 1, the Environment Agency audited approximately 1 in 20 businesses that notified compliance. Many of the enforcement penalties related to maintenance and accuracy of records.

Leniency is unlikely

Regulators are less likely to be lenient in this phase of ESOS than they were in Phase 1. This applies to both late compliance and the standard of compliance activity such as energy audits. The deadline is in just two months and businesses that qualify still have an opportunity to ensure compliance, although quick action is required.

The benefits of ESOS

If engaged with effectively, ESOS serves as an excellent way for businesses to identify ways in which they can reduce their energy consumption as well as associated costs and carbon emissions. EIC have engaged with many businesses that have implemented energy saving opportunities following their ESOS Phase 1 compliance activities.

Why choose EIC?

Whether it’s ESOS, SECR, or CCAs, EIC will work with you to reach compliance deadlines and targets. In Phase 1 of ESOS our team identified 2,829 individual energy efficiency opportunities, equivalent to 461GWh or £43.9m of annual savings across 1,148 individual audits. We also helped over 300 ESOS Phase 1 clients avoid combined penalties of over £48m, based on maximum fines.

To find out more about how we can help you comply and implement recommendations post ESOS compliance, call us on 01527 511 757 or email esos@eic.co.uk