Are Energy Credits Good for Business?

The grace period has come to an end. The first set of fines will be issued at the end of this year for failure to meet 2020 targets. The utilities, including Electricity, Gas and Oil will continue to feel the pressure of the fines and the drive to obtain energy credits right up to the target review date. This is good news for business for many reasons.

The success of energy reduction programmes for business has a direct benefit to the company in energy spend, but the additional benefits of making companies much more competitive, with lower production and operating costs compared to competitors who have not attempted to reduce energy waste, is by far the biggest advantage of article 8. In comparison studies of companies, we have seen many production facilities with the same matrix of production with a 13% reduction in production costs and similarly across a chain of hotels we have seen a savings of 21% from one hotel to another.

The other good news for business from energy reduction programmes is one of the company ethos and staff involvement. A common goal across all levels of the company, immediate results and rewards of actions taken by people, giving the company a long-lasting reoccurring benefit for everyone involved.

Ring-fencing savings is an excellent method of encouraging re-investment for continual savings and energy waste reduction programmes. The ultimate goal for continued success is ISO 50001. This is by far the easiest international standard to obtain and continue year on year. Delivering benefits and maintaining the standard by continual observation. Obtaining the energy credits from your utility will often cover the cost of implementing ISO 50001. Our recommendation would be to go straight to the ISO standard with the assistance of SEAI and obtain the credit form to fund the process. Everyone wins.