On 1st April 2010 the new Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) came into force, affecting businesses and public sector organisations across the whole of the UK. The CRC is mandatory and requires that qualifying companies purchase allowances to cover the equivalent amount of CO2 produced by them annually.
To qualify for the CRC a business must meet certain criteria in terms of:
- its organisational structure
- its responsibility for energy supplies
- its electricity metering equipment
- the volume of electricity it is supplied with
The CRC will mainly affect businesses with annual electricity bills above £500,000 but other non-qualifying businesses will be required to make information disclosures about their electricity use.
Landlords should note that where they pay for an energy supply which is passed on, in whole or part, to its tenants, they will be responsible for that entire energy supply in terms of the CRC requirements.
Tenants who pay for their own direct energy supplies will be responsible for themselves in terms of the CRC.
