Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — The U.K. will make businesses report
emissions on fewer fuels than initially proposed, as it seeks to
shave 272 million pounds ($437 million) off the costs of a
carbon reduction program.
Public and private sector organizations will have to report
emissions from only two fuels, electricity and gas, compared
with 29 originally covered by the CRC Energy Efficiency
initiative, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said
today. The government in March had proposed cutting the number
to four.
The CRC, or carbon reduction commitment, makes it mandatory
for about 5,000 businesses and public sector bodies using more
than 6,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year to report their
annual emissions and buy allowances from the government to cover
their carbon output. Participants had criticized the program for
its complexity and costs, which KPMG estimated in December 2011
to be about 30,000 pounds to 36,000 pounds per participant. The
government consulted on proposals in March to reduce the costs.
“We have listened to the concerns of business and
radically simplified the scheme in order to cut down on
administrative costs and red tape,” Energy and Climate Change
Minister Gregory Barker said today in a statement. “The scheme
will now be more flexible and light-touch, saving participants
money and helping them to save energy”.
Next Year
As well as cutting the fuels covered, the government
implemented most of its March proposals to simplify the program
including dropping a performance league table. The reforms will
deliver a 55 percent reduction in costs saving about 272 million
pounds for participants, the government said today. Most
proposals take effect from next year. The government will review
the program in 2016.
“Many U.K. businesses have struggled to come to terms with
some of the technical complexity of the CRC scheme,” Jane
Southworth, legal director at law firm Eversheds LLP, said.
“Businesses are likely to welcome these reforms as they will
help to make the scheme far more user friendly,” she said,
while noting that the plan to review the program in 2016 made
the initiative’s long-term future more uncertain.
To contact the reporter responsible for this story:
Sally Bakewell in London at
Sbakewell1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
