Companies face a big increase in energy costs while coming under pressure to reduce carbon emissions

Energy markets are very volatile at the moment with fuel, gas and electricity all massively more expensive than in recent times.

A shortage of diesel is predicted with prices possibly reaching £2 per litre. Contract renewals for electricity from April 2022 are being quoted at 50 p/kWh or more compared with 13p to 16p previously. Gas contract ae being quoted in the range 10 to 20 p/kWh compared with 3p to 4p previously. With energy costs at these levels measures to reduce energy consumption will pay for themselves in a very short time.

Companies need to act now to reduce their energy bills while protecting the environment

Large companies also need to comply with a whole raft of legislation. The Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme (ESOS) is under review. Consideration is being given to introducing a net zero carbon element and aligning ESOS with Streamline Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR). We are currently in phase 3 of ESOS with a reference date of 31 December 2022 and a deadline to report by 5 December 2023. Large companies also need to report their total carbon emission annually to comply with SECR.

Transition plans

Speaking at the COP26 climate summit, Chancellor Rishi Sunak claimed the UK was leading the world in becoming the "first-ever net zero aligned global financial centre". There are plans for financial institutions and certain large businesses to publish transition plans by 2023 to show how they are going to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. However, all companies will need to start planning how they are going to transition to net zero.

Our services

Building on our experience as Lead ESOS assessors since 2014, Colin Lillicrap Associates offers large companies an integrated approach to transition planning while also complying with ESOS and SECR. This keeps costs down by avoiding duplication. We audit a company’s total energy consumption for buildings, transport and process and use standardised templates to process the data. We establish benchmark for energy consumption and carbon emissions as the starting point for transition planning while using the same data to comply with ESOS and SECR. We continue to work with your business to identify energy and cost savings and in many

cases can project manage the supply, installation and commissioning. The payback on investing in measures such as solar panels or LED lighting is very good

It is becoming clear that all businesses large and small need to take steps to reduce energy costs while planning how they are going to achieve net zero by 2050.

Act today to avoid big increases in your energy bills

Whether you are a large or small business, speak to our experts to find out how we can reduce your energy costs while planning how to achieve net zero carbon by 2050