An organisation must register as a Participant in the CRC scheme if:
- it has one or more half-hourly electricity meters settled on the half-hourly market;
- and it used at least 6,000MWh (Mega Watt hours) of half-hourly electricity during the qualification year.
This applies to all companies, partnerships, public bodies, charities and other incorporated bodies that have operations in the UK. The qualification year for the Introductory phase of CRC is the 2008 calendar year.
Yes. Most organisations that meet the qualification criteria for participation must take part. However, if an organisation has a sufficient amount of its emissions covered by a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) it can claim group exemption.
In addition, those organisations with specific UK tax exemption may also be exempt from the CRC Energy Effiency Scheme.
Please see the CRC Guidance for a summary of compliance requirements.
- Register as a Participant for the introductory phase by 30 September 2010.
- Produce a Footprint Report once per phase.
- Submit an Annual Report on the organisation’s annual emissions which have to be included in the scheme.
- Hold and surrender sufficient allowances to cover the energy use emissions included in the scheme.
- Maintain an Evidence Pack containing an up-to-date record of documents related to the organisation’s energy use.
For details on the latest charges for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, please see our charges page:
Responsibility for enforcing the scheme lies with three administrators:
- In England and Wales – the Environment Agency
- In Scotland – the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
- In Northern Ireland – the Department for the Environment
The Environment Agency runs the UK-wide online register on behalf of all three administrators.
Organisatons must register for the scheme using the online CRC Registry. If you qualify as a CRC Participant, you should have registered between 1 April 2010 and 30 September 2010 for the Introductory phase.
Anyone (not just CRC Participants) may ask to open a trading account through the online CRC Registry, in order to trade allowances on the secondary market. You can do this at any time during the scheme.
Before you can open an account in this way, you will need to provide information about your organisation, and the administrator will need to carry out identity checks.
Upon opening a trading account, you will have to pay the following fees:
- a one-off registration fee of £285
- an annual charge of £390 each year
- £70 for each identification check required
No, you cannot participate voluntarily in the CRC scheme if your organisation does not meet the qualification criteria. However, you may open a third party trading account through the online CRC Registry in order to trade allowances on the secondary market.
Phase 1 - introductory phase:
- Qualification period: 1 January 2008 - 31 December 2008
- Registration period: 1 April 2010 - 30 September 2010
- Footprint year: 1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011
- Annual reporting years: 1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011, 1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012, 1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013, and 1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014
Phase 2:
- Qualification period: 1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013
- Registration period: 1 April 2013 - 30 September 2013
- Footprint year: 1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014
- Annual reporting years: 1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014, 1 April 2014 - 31 March 2015, 1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016, 1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017, 1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018, 1 April 2018 - 31 March 2019
This depends whether the facility is a single legal entity, or whether it is part of a larger organisational group.
Single legal entity:
If the facility is a single legal entity and was not operational until after the end of the qualification period, then it will not have to participate in the introductory phase of the CRC. Its qualification into CRC for the second phase will be determined by its electricity consumption during the phase 2 qualification period, which is 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011.
Part of a larger organisational group:
If the facility is part of a larger organisational group that is participating in the CRC, its emissions (once it is operational) will be the responsibility of that participating organisation. This change may need to be captured through annual reporting.
If the facility becomes operational during the footprint year of the introductory phase (for example, April 2010 to April 2011) then its emissions must be included within the larger organisation’s footprint for the introductory phase.
A ‘group member’ is a legally distinct public body or undertaking organisation that forms part of a group of public bodies or undertakings.
Government has decided to use the wide definition of ‘undertaking’ enshrined in section 1161(1) of the Companies Act for the purposes of defining private sector organisations, and to expand the definition to include unincorporated associations which carry out charitable activities.
Public bodies are those designated as a ‘public authority’ or ‘Scottish public authority’ under the section 3(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 or section 3(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOIS).
For the CRC the participant is required to report CO2 emissions only. Please find the emission factors in Annex C of the Government Response to the March 2009 consultation.
CRC is aimed primarily at improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions, and therefore credit will not be given to offsetting schemes.
The responsibility for emissions for disaggregated SGUs follows the CRC supply rules. Each part of the group will take responsibility for the energy supplied to it. There is no requirement to sub meter supplies if separate parts of a group occupy the same building.
Account representatives or account reps will be named individuals who are authorised by the senior officer to act on behalf of the participant to buy, sell and surrender allowances. Each participant organisation will be able to have up to three account representatives at any one time. Anybody is allowed to be an account representative for the participant organisation (for example, the primary contact, senior officer, agents) as long as the senior officer approves the nomination.
As the account representatives are responsible for the buying, selling and surrender of allowances, and therefore binding financial transactions, personal identity checks are undertaken and a government level 2 'digital certificate' is issued to confirm their identity. This digital certificate will allow the account representatives access to parts of the account which other named individuals will not be able to access.
No. A government department can apply for a 'relevant decision' to remove parts of their organisation from their structure before registering for CRC. Bodies corporate, which are majority owned by public bodies (other than a government department) should register for CRC independently.
For further clarification on this please refer to page 20 of our guidance Am I in? A guide to qualification and organisational structure. If you need to discuss this with us please contact us on 03708 506 506.
