Year-end energy compliance
The list of acronyms keeps on getting longer – CCL / CCA / CHPQA / UKETS / ESOS / SECR. Best practice is that they are all reviewed regularly through the year to:
Ensure continued compliance
Check for relevant changes on site and to the ‘rules’ themselves
Identify and correct data issues before they ‘explode’
For us, the key calendar year-end work revolves mostly around Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance (CHPQA) and the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UKETS) as both require performance reports / data for the calendar year to be delivered in the first quarter of the new year.
We get monthly meter readings and check gas / electricity invoices every month for our ‘full service’ clients and these are the backbone of everything that follows. We check things like the CHP efficiency and general consumption vs. previous months and the same month in the previous year. This is of course just good energy management practice which means that collating the relevant data for compliance activities is relatively straightforward. For us, it’s about having confidence in the records and data we hold on file and being able to respond quickly to queries that arise.
For CHPQA, meter calibration is another focus. Whilst its not always the case, when meters get beyond a certain age (varies depending on a range of factors) your CHPQA Quality Index can suffer; this can ultimately cost you money in reduced CCL savings. We review meter calibration at this time of year so that any work required is done ready for next year.
It’s always busy at the start of a new year so we aim to have everything complete around now with just the final meter reads and energy invoices to enter over the next few months. Although the ‘energy invoice gods’ occasionally like to add an extra challenge at exactly the wrong time.
More years ago than I like to think about, I remember tearing my hair out (yes that long ago!) on the CHPQA deadline of 31st March because the meter readings a client had sent me made no sense at all. I don’t recommend it!
