We’re now in Phase 2 of the ESOS compliance scheme. Organisations were required to submit information for Phase 1 of ESOS by 29 January 2016. The regulations require large UK organisations to take three important steps before the compliance date of 5 December 2019:

• Measure total energy consumption for buildings, industrial processes and transport
• Conduct audits to identify cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations for areas of significant energy consumption; and
• Report compliance to their national scheme administrator – the Environment Agency in England, SEPA in Scotland, NIEA in Northern Ireland and NRW in Wales.

To comply with the regulations, a Lead Energy Assessor will need to conduct the ESOS Assessment. In certain cases organisations can comply automatically. The main way to do this is by providing evidence that they have achieved certification to ISO 50001, the international standard for best practice energy management, across their organisation.
Act now to identify Phase 2 opportunities

Organisations caught under the ESOS regulations can now start conducting audits to identify their cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities in order to meet the requirements of the Phase 2 compliance period, or move forward with implementing ISO 50001. In particular ISO 50001 requires early action, as it often takes well over a year for companies to implement a best practice energy management system and achieve certification.

Organisations can also now begin collecting the data for reporting their total energy consumption, as ESOS compliance requires a 12 month period of total energy consumption data which includes the qualification date of 31 December 2018.