After you’ve calculated your total energy consumption, you must identify assets and activities that amount to at least 95% of your total energy consumption. These are your areas of significant energy consumption and comprise the assets and activities you will audit or ensure are covered by an alternative route to compliance. The energy used by these assets and activities is termed your significant energy consumption.
Changes for the third compliance period
In the first and second compliance period, ESOS participants were able to exclude up to 10% of their energy supplies and report on 90%. In the third compliance period this has been changed to up to 5% exclusion and at least 95% of total energy consumption must be included.
This means you can exclude up to 5% of your total energy consumption from any audit or alternative compliance measures. This up to 5% is your ‘de minimis energy consumption’. You can classify whichever activities you choose as de minimis energy consumption. It is suggested that you include the energy consumption from all of your large undertakings in your areas of significant energy consumption. This means you can exclude energy on:
a group basis – for example excluding the consumption of a one or more undertakings
a site basis – for example excluding the consumption of a particular site or number of sites
an asset or activity basis – for example excluding the consumption of an asset or activity, or a defined list of assets or activities
a fuel basis – for example excluding consumption associated with the use of a particular fuel or fuels
You could also exclude energy using a combination of the above. If you do not choose to identify your areas of significant energy consumption and exclude de minimis energy consumption then you must audit your total energy consumption or cover it under another route to compliance. Supplies which were not required to be included in the total energy consumption calculation (in accordance with the rules set out in section 4.3) are excluded from all future calculations. As a result these supplies would not have to be included in your significant energy consumption, would not need to be covered by a route to compliance or included in the de minimis energy consumption. You must keep records in your evidence pack detailing the energy uses that you have chosen to exclude and include details of your total and significant energy consumption in the compliance notification you submit. You will need to also exclude data relating to these supplies from your Energy Intensity Ratio (see section 6.5).