In what supporters are calling a historic achievement, 196 nations attending the COP21 climate meetings outside Paris voted to adopt an agreement that covers both developed and developing countries. Their respective governments will now need to adopt the deal.  Presenting the plan aimed at curbing global warming ahead of the vote, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the delegations, "You go into this room to decide a historic agreement. The world holds its breath and it counts on you."  The agreement...

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A new scheme made under Ofgem’s Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) – known as Proposal 272 (P272) – will require larger non-domestic sites, with a meter profile class 05 to 08, to be settled on the Half-Hourly (HH) data their Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meters are recording. Where an AMR meter is installed on profile class 05 to 08, this will need to be set up to provide HH readings to suppliers. This will simply improve the accuracy of...

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Older gas installations have historically benefited from lower charges through shared charges by being ‘aggregated’ to other supplies on site giving them one Meter Point Reference Number and combined transportation and metering costs. Since April 2014 suppliers have not been allowed to aggregate meters together into one supply point and from July 2015, all existing aggregated meters must be de-aggregated by the supplier. This will result in the supplies being assigned individual transportation and metering cost and will mean...

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With effect from midnight on 31 July 2015, electricity generated from renewable sources will no longer be eligible for the CCL exemption for RSE when supplied under a renewable source contract. The only exemption will be for electricity that is generated before 1 August 2015 for which the suppliers hold Levy Exemption Certificates for. The suppliers will be able to continue to allocate this to renewable source contracts for a transitional period commencing on 1 August 2015. Such supplies...

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Industry experts within corporate real estate gathered in Central London last week to discuss the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for privately-let commercial and domestic properties passed through parliament earlier this year. Hosted by the energy consultants Carbon2018 Limited, the governing body DECC joined the forum to answer questions and address any concerns. The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 require that from 01 April 2018, private commercial and domestic property landlords must upgrade their properties...

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You cannot afford to wait until 2018 to improve your EPC rating – that is the message from Melanie Kendall-Reid, Carbon2018’s Compliance Director this week. The Energy Efficiency in Buildings Regulations 2015 requires landlords to secure an EPC certificate with an E rating or higher in order to issue a new lease for a property from 1st April 2018. Beyond this, there is an additional requirement to secure such an EPC for properties with existing leases by April 2023....

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Saving energy is high on the political agenda. The UK has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to at least 35% below 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80% below by 2050. In order to meet this target the UK will have to make significant changes to the current generation and use of energy. In response to this target, the Government has enacted a number of legislations aimed at achieving its pledge. Unfortunately the legislation does not go far...

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The Competition and Markets Authority has granted permission to Northern Powergrid and British Gas Trading to appeal against Ofgem’s price control decision for electricity distribution companies. The Regulator, Ofgem, sets price controls for the companies that operate the UK’s gas and electricity networks. The appeal is in relation to the setting of transport electricity to homes and companies for domestic and commercial use for the period 2015 to 2023. Gas transmission accounts for around 2% and electricity transmission around 4% of...

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New Legislation, which came into force on 13 April 2015, will see anyone found guilty of rigging the wholesale gas and electricity prices facing up to two years in jail. The new law makes it a criminal offence to use inside information to buy or sell wholesale energy or to fix the price of energy at a false level. It also makes it an offence to make misleading claims or disguise facts about the wholesale prices to influence the market. The...

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