ESOS: UK firms could miss out on £250M of energy savings

UK businesses run the risk of missing out on savings on £250M each year if they fail to take advantage of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), which aims to reduce energy bills and consumption.

ESOS is administered by the Environment Agency and encourages UK companies to cut their energy consumption and in the process save money, increase energy security and reduce carbon emissions. Under the scheme, companies are required to carry out assessments and identify cost effective energy saving measures.

UK businesses that have at least 250 employees or an annual turnover above £38.9M and an annual balance sheet total above £33.4M must take part in the scheme. This means that around 10,000 companies, who collectively consume around a third of the UK’s energy, will be affected.

Companies have until 5 December 2015 to confirm they have implemented the scheme and the Environment Agency is calling upon business leaders to be pro-active ahead of the looming deadline.

Jo Scully, the Environment Agency’s ESOS project lead, said: “We know that many businesses are working hard on their ESOS preparations but it is vital that all businesses check to see if they need to take part by visiting the GOV.UK website as soon as possible.

“This scheme will save all of these companies money as well as bringing significant environmental benefits. The government has calculated that if businesses covered by ESOS reduce their energy use by just 0.7 per cent, they will save around £250M each year.”

This month the Environment Agency will publish its approach to dealing with non-compliance.

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