Almost 12,000 companies need to be up to speed with the Government’s new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) policy which makes it mandatory for them to disclose their energy and carbon emissions, under the Companies (Directors’ Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018.
SECR aims to encourage organisations to implement energy efficiency measures to bring about economic and environmental benefits whilst cutting costs, increasing productivity and reducing carbon in the drive to a low carbon economy.
SECR builds on existing requirements, including mandatory greenhouse gas reporting for quoted companies, the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), Climate Change Agreements (CCA) Scheme, and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
SECR extends the reporting requirements for quoted companies and covers new annual disclosures for large unquoted and limited liability partnerships (LLPs).
‘Large’ Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) will be required to prepare and file an ‘Energy and Carbon Report’.
Unquoted companies or LLPs are defined as ‘large’ if they meet at least two of the following three criteria in a reporting year:
Turnover of £36 million or more;
Balance sheet of £18 million or more; or
250 employees or more.
Public bodies do not fall under the new regulations, although other legislation which requires carbon reporting does apply.
Low energy users  – 40MWh or less over the reporting period – are exempt.
Private sector organisations not covered by the SECR have been encouraged to follow the principles on a voluntary basis.
As a minimum, unquoted large companies and large LLPs will need to report UK energy use from electricity, gas and transport fuel – as well as the associated GHG emissions – including at least one intensity metric.
Quoted and unquoted companies and LLPs all need to report energy use for the current and previous financial years plus a description of measures taken to improve the business’s energy efficiency in that year and a note on any resulting energy savings.
There is a ‘comply or explain’ clause, which allows carbon and energy information to be excluded where it is not practical to obtain it.
Energy Gain UK are energy reduction specialists and advises businesses on how to improve their energy efficiency and installs technologies to help lower carbon emissions and grid energy usage.