Firms with 250 employees or more might be legally obliged to implement energy efficiency measures

Companies employing at least 250 employees or more might be legally obliged to undergo energy audits and implement energy-saving measures, new plans set out by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) revealed.

So, while UK companies are already legally committed to carbon reporting, the DECC plans to actually require larger firms and corporations to undergo extensive energy audits, following which they'll have to implement energy efficiency measures, as they will be included in the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS).

The DECC believes that the new scheme will enable companies to identify opportunities to save money on energy bills through improved energy efficiency and could benefit the UK by £1.9 billion.

This scheme is intended to promote the uptake of cost-effective energy efficiency measures by requiring all large enterprises in the UK to undertake energy efficiency audits by December 2015 and every four years thereafter. It represents the Government's approach to meeting the requirements of Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU).

For the time being, all of these proposals will undergo a public consultation process that will close on 3 October 2013. The Government intends to bring forward secondary legislation in spring 2014 setting out the legal framework for the operation of the scheme, so that the UK can meet the 5 June 2014 EU deadline for transposition of the Energy Efficiency Directive.

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