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Are organisations making the most of Energy Consultancies?

17th September 2015

IMServ

Jordan Mulcare

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With less than 12 weeks to go until the deadline for phase one of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), concern has been building over participants’ commitment to the new regulation, says Peter Leggett, Energy Analyst, IMServ. As the ESOS phase one deadline on the 5^th December approaches there are currently less than 200 participants, out of approximately 16,000, complying with the regulation. There is a significant penalty for failure to comply with ESOS, with businesses being charged as much as £5,000 plus £500 per day, for missing the deadline.

Peter says: “A major concern is that some of the estimated 14,000 businesses not currently complying may lack the knowledge and expertise internally, or may simply not be aware of the regulation and upcoming deadline. A highly successful approach has been to engage with energy consultancies, to relieve stress whilst ensuring compliance and managing energy strategies.”

The better businesses review their consumption, audit processes and portfolio, the better their chances of reducing consumption and costs. Energy consultancies have expanded their expertise by introducing energy reduction strategies, energy-saving implementation projects and supporting legislative compliance. With ever-greater transparency of energy usage from data collection organisations, businesses can gain accurate insight into their consumption and are able to develop effective strategies for energy and carbon reductions and cost savings.

Peter continues: “The old adage ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’ is particularly true when providing legislative reports or developing an energy strategy. We often work with energy consultancies to help consumption data, particularly electricity and gas, be made more accessible in online energy management portals, such as our EDV2 service. This enables consultancies to develop energy strategies which maximise the use of independently verified data to increase efficiency and meet legislation. Partnerships provide a valuable audit trail of authentication and accuracy, coupled with excellent customer service and ‘right first time’ implementation.

“Increasingly we are seeing businesses developing their ‘green agenda’ and taking part in further self-assessment, such as ISO 50001 accreditation. Having easily accessible metering data at hand provides a wealth of information to make these assessments more streamlined. Before businesses look to further self-assessment, compliance with regulations such as ESOS phase one is essential. For the ESOS participants currently failing to comply, don’t be afraid to ask for help, as leaving it until it is too late will result in penalties and falling behind the industry’s on-going commitment to improve supply to businesses.”