Comments for Local Energy

Comment on DECC confirms fee and dates for purchasing CRC allowances by Karen Lawrence

Karen Lawrence — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:59:00 +0000

And here are some thoughts I wrote before Xmas following an Environment Agency CRC Customer Operations Liaison Group (COLG) meeting. I’ve noted some key points regarding next year’s purchase and surrender of allowances.

1. Account Representatives – you will already be aware of the requirement to appoint at least one Account Representative, who may apply for, trade and surrender allowances through the compliance account of the participant organisation. Although you may appoint up to three Account Reps, it is recommended that participants do not appoint all three initially, as there will be an administration charge of £70 for any changes. The EA expects to issue guidance on the appointment of Account Reps in early 2012 and the CRC Registry will be begin validating nominations from April 2012.
2. Digital certificates – each Account Rep must purchase an approved Government Gateway digital certificate for each compliance account. The certificate can only be obtained from Chamber SimplySign and currently costs £35+VAT per year. Each digital certificate is specific to an individual who must supply personal data (i.e. full name, date and place of birth, home address) during the application process. Identification checks are carried out to validate the individual applying – it is recommended that you also supply details such as your driving licence number or passport number in order to increase the chance of your application succeeding. It may take up to two weeks to receive a digital certificate.
3. Technical issues – each digital certificate is specific to the computer on which it is downloaded. We believe that some users may experience difficulty downloading and installing digital certificates due to firewalls and other security measures, so we advise you to contact your IT department well in advance to establish whether your system is compatible with Chamber SimplySign digital certificates.
4. Buying and surrendering allowances – the window for purchasing allowances will open on 1st June and close on 31st July 2012. During this time, an Account Representative must access the compliance account and place an order for allowances according to the quantity of carbon reported in the 2011-12 annual report. (You may purchase more than this, but you will need at least enough to surrender for this compliance year). Payment must be made and, when processed, the EA will credit the allowances you have purchased to your compliance account. The Account Rep must then access the account once more to surrender the correct number of allowances for the compliance year. We expect that this process will cause some difficulties, since no invoice will be generated and many organisations routinely take 6-8 weeks to process a payment; we advise participants to establish how they will process the payment in sufficient time to enable the Account Rep to surrender allowances on or before the deadline on 31st July 2012.
5. Timescale – given that the majority of CRC participants submitted their 2010-11 reports in the last two weeks before the deadline, it is to be hoped that data can be collected and annual report generated much more quickly next time around. Your annual report will produce the emissions figure for the compliance year, which will enable you to order the correct quantity of allowances; you must then allow sufficient time for your payment to be made and the money to be received by the EA, before the allowances will be credited to your account and subsequently surrendered. We advise working back from the deadline date and factoring in all the key activities to identify a target date for production of your annual report (which is likely to be in May or June). If you do not have an accurate total by the target date, you should use your best estimate, plus a percentage contingency, and order allowances on that basis. If you do not need to surrender all the allowances purchased, you may carry them over to next year.

Karen Lawrence

NB CSPS network members have received this briefing by email previously. If you like to join the network to receive all of our CRC briefings, please contact us.

Comment on DECC announces new funding for community and public sector energy projects by Natasha Pope

Natasha Pope — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:38:00 +0000

Lets hear more about Camerons secret discussions with BP and investment into fossil fuels more dangerous to our environment than any other, then we shall know the true incentive behind the rug being pulled from beneath the Solar Industry- VESTED INTERESTS and The Nation be damned. A Vote of NO CONFIDENcE NOW. OUT OUT OUT!

Comment on Top Ten Councils on the CRC Performance League Table by Martin Crandon

Martin Crandon — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:53:00 +0000

It would be interesting to find out how many Councils have changed their Street Lighting metering strategy.
We went from dynamic to passive on the 1st April this year so can remove 25% of our emissions from our footprint for next years league table.

Do others agree this will skew the results?

Martin Crandon

Comment on CRC League Table expected in November by CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) league table now expected in November | Campaign4Change

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:41:16 +0000

[...] This blog post on Local Energy suggests that a November date is expected. That could mean the table will be out next week or alternatively, it may still be a month away. [...]

Comment on Local Authorities shed Climate Change staff due to cuts by matthewnoble

matthewnoble — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:56:42 +0000

The results of our survey – as respondents were free to write in a box – don’t lend themselves to graphical analysis, so wont be posting anything more on this survey.

If you haven’t already seen it, this report on climate change and localism by the Green Alliance is illuminating on your subject.

http://www.green-alliance.org.uk/grea_p.aspx?id=6100

Comment on Local Authorities shed Climate Change staff due to cuts by Warren Pearce

Warren Pearce — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:57:00 +0000

Thanks for this, Matthew. I’m currently researching sub-national implementation of climate change mitigation policy.

Will you be posting any further details of your survey results?

Comment on Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Delayed For At Least Two Months by matthewnoble

matthewnoble — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:37:08 +0000

We havent had any feedback yet on how this is going to affect biomass end users. No doubt it will serve as a further disincentive for uptake when tried and tested carbon heavy options are on the table. Join the discussion regarding this on linked in http://www.linkedin.com/groups/How-has-delay-in-Renewable-3997004.S.74932602

Comment on Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Delayed For At Least Two Months by Tim Hamper

Tim Hamper — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Those of us with a keen interest in building up confidence in the biomass sector – to encourage organisations to switch to economically sustainable biomass – need the patience of a saint and apparently endless optimism!
This is definitely a setback for investor confidence. I’m a frustrated investor in a green business initiative (and I bet the same is true for those supplying both the fuel and the low-carbon technologies).
We can only guess at how much this is making potential biomass end users even more cautious. Any feedback yet on how they may be viewing this news?

Comment on CRC early action metric league table survey: initial results by Oliver King

Oliver King — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:35:00 +0000

this is useful, thanks very much

Comment on UK Government’s draft Carbon Plan by Dave

Dave — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:18:00 +0000

I think it is good that the government are showing positive steps in the right direction, businesses and individuals are encouraged to make positive choices and to be aware of what the government is doing in the carbon plan will promote idea generation, positivity towards carbon reduction and awareness.