April saw a number of changes to energy regulation come into force.
Firstly, minimum energy efficiency standards, or MEES regulations, now mean public and private sector landlords cannot grant a tenancy to new or existing tenants if their property has an EPC rating of band F or G. Otherwise there are penalties of up to £160,000 per property.
Public or private landlords will not be able to grant a tenancy to new or existing tenants for any property scoring F or G from now.
Recent reports reveal that almost 20% of commercial buildings have fallen into a lower EPC rating than when previously assessed.
Current estimates put a value of £130 billion on the amount of property across the UK that may now be potentially unrentable due to failures by landlords to implement energy efficiencies. This is despite the new regulations having been widely publicised for months.
At Energy Gain UK we can help alleviate the financial burden of failing to let a property due to a poor EPC rating by carrying out the work required to provide the most energy efficient properties and ultimately save landlords and businesses money in energy bills and routine maintenance.
Details of our free energy survey can be found here
April has also seen a number of new charging arrangements come into force that will have an impact on business energy bills.
DCP161 and DCP228 affect distribution network charges, which make up 10-15% of the average power bill.
DCP161 affects network capacity. Businesses have a set capacity, agreed with their distribution network operator, around the maximum demand they can import. If a business breached that capacity, they just paid the standard rate for any excess. However, from the 1^st April breaching the agreed capacity limit incurs a penalty charge up to three times the standard rate.
DCP228 affects time of use tariffs – red, amber and green, or RAG, rates. Red rates had typically been many times higher than green rates, leading companies to adopt red band avoidance strategies. But from now on, the RAG rates are flattened, so that the difference between red and green rates is much less. While some half-hourly metered companies using power during peak times may see smaller bills as a result, others face higher charges as avoidance measures become nullified. For example, firms operating overnight will now pay more.
However, for businesses willing to implement renewable technologies there are still options to not only lessen the impact of these new charging arrangements but to actually decrease their energy bills to levels even lower than they were prior to April 1^st.
Want to find out more about how you could reduce your electricity bills with renewable technologies? Call us on 0161 330 7739 or leave your details and we can get in touch with you.
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