FDs welcome CRC scheme changes

While changes to policy usually mean a headache for the finance director,
fresh changes to the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) could work in their
favour.

The new CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme requires companies that spend £500,000
or more on annual energy bills to pay for annual carbon emissions. Companies
will feature in a league table with their rebate dependent on how they fare
against other businesses.

One of the biggest concerns for FDs has been the CRC’s affect on cashflow.
Under the original terms of the scheme, members were to pay for emissions for
both 2010 and 2011 in April 2011. Recent changes mean businesses will now pay
for one year in 2011, with 2010 effectively being a ‘free’ year.

Early bonus
Another announcement means early adopters now have a choice of standards they
can adhere to. Companies wanting to start CRC initiatives as soon as possible
can take up the Early Action Metric, so all reductions made before the CRC start
date will count towards their league table position.

Companies can choose from the Carbon Trust Standard and now the British
Standard Institute’s BS EN 16001. For a company to receive the BSI Kitemark, it
must show:
* A 2.5% reduction in energy usage per year calculated over three years’ worth
of data;
* Past, present and predicted energy use; and
* Its monitoring plans and methods of reductions.

Companies that have already taken up the BSI Early Action Metric include
Virgin Trains, City of London Corporation and Robert Wiseman Dairies.

Useful links
https://tinyurl.com/CRC-EarlyAdoption

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