Nine out of 10 not yet registered for Carbon Reduction Commitment

Fewer than 10 per cent of the companies and public sector bodies covered by the government's recently launched Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency (CRC) scheme have registered their participation with the Environment Agency, raising fears organisations could miss the legally binding September deadline.

According to figures released last week by the agency, only 447 organisations have registered as participants, despite the fact that an estimated 5,000 businesses and public sector bodies are legally required to take part in the carbon reporting and trading scheme.

Similarly, only 2,833 of an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 organisations have registered as "information declarers", confirming that they have half-hourly electricity meters but do not use sufficient energy to qualify as a participant in the scheme.

All organisations covered by the CRC legislation have until September 31 to register with the Environment Agency or risk fines.

A spokeswoman for the agency told BusinessGreen.com that organisations which have energy bills of more than £500,000 and are supposed to participate fully in the CRC, could face an initial fine of £5,000 for missing the deadline for registrations and additional fines of £500 for each day they fail to register up to a maximum of £45,000.

She added that the names of organisations that failed to comply with the rules of the CRC would be published and would go to the bottom of the annual league table detailing participants' energy efficiency performance.

Similarly, those organisations that miss the deadline for registering as " information declarers" could face a fine of £500 for each half-hourly electricity meter they fail to declare.

The low numbers of organisations that have so far registered with the Environment Agency will further fuel criticism that the CRC has not been well publicised and that some firms are still unsure as to whether they are covered by the legislation.

Dave Lewis, head of business energy services at energy firm Npower, said that some companies were at serious risk of missing the September deadline.

"Compiling all the data needed to register for CRC is no small task and while many are working hard to bring this together, time is running out," he said. " The summer months, when internal resources are typically lower due to holidays, could also present another challenge. Any organisation that hasn’t progressed with its CRC evidence pack could be up against it."

He added that the low number of organisations registered as participants also suggested that some could be struggling with the requirement to begin measuring their energy use from last April.

A spokeswoman for the agency downplayed the likelihood of large numbers of organisations missing the September deadline. "Based on our experience of similar schemes, organisations tend to register towards the end of the period and the registrations so far are in line with where we would expect them to be, " she said. She added that a communications campaign featuring direct mail reminders to all affected organisations should ensure they are aware of the looming deadline.

Lewis also warned that companies only had until the end of this month to register if they wanted to take advantage of the CRC's disaggregation option, which allows those businesses with several subsidiaries to register them as separate participants.

"The disaggregation option might seem like a simple administrative task, but it could potentially be a valuable route for many businesses," he explained. " CRC participation is typically established at a group level, but being able to register companies separately could make collating data and submitting ongoing evidence packs simpler."