27 April 2011 | Tierney Smith
Carbon, Legislation, Europe

 

Companies could add around 10 per cent of their energy bills, if they do not submit their first Carbon Reduction Commitment annual report properly and on time.

This was the finding of research by financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). They found at between 5 and 11 per cent of energy bills could be added in fines, if businesses do not record their energy data correctly.

31 July is the first deadline for companies to gather the raw numbers related to their usage of electricity, gas, diesel and coal in a CRC Footprint Report and a CRC Annual Report, which is then verified by the company and spot audited by the Environmental Agency.

The scheme effects over 3,000 UK organisations, who energy bills are mostly more than £500,000, but PwC analysis found that a significant number of companies are inadequately prepared.

In a recent survey PwC found that of over 160 large public and private companies 67 per cent were CRC participants, while only 21 per cent said they were currently reporting carbon emissions.

Henry Le Fleming, carbon-reporting specialist at PwC, said: “Registration last year was the relatively easy part. Now the hard work begins. Many companies won’t have stress tested their processes, systems and controls for gathering the data. If they have large numbers of sites with shared responsibility for energy bills it could be more difficult than expected.

“With late reporting or incorrect data both attracting fines, the clock is ticking for companies to get this right over the coming weeks before the deadline.”

Fines could be as much as £5,000 for each report not submitted on time, plus £500 for every day the report is outstanding, and inaccuracies in reporting could attract fines of £40 a tonne.

For example a company with a £1 million energy bill that was 20 days late submitting reports, and made a 20 per cent error in number in its annual report could face fines of around £80,000.

However, the reports due in July will also offer companies the chance to control the costs of the CRC. The CRC report submitted in July will define sources reported fro the next three years and cannot be changed till that point. PwC says using this effectively could enable some companies to reduce exposure by 10 per cent.

Le Fleming, said: “This is the year to get it right – there is a financial upside as well as a downside. Added to that is the published league table which will create attention for those companies without a track record on carbon reporting. The countdown is on."
 

 

Image: Genbug | flickr

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