Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) comes into force - what does this mean for Members?

21st July 2014

In June, the Government (Department of Energy and Climate Change, DECC) announced the detail of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS). It then came into effect on 17 July 2014.

ESOS is the UK government’s response to the requirements of the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) which requires that certain measures are implemented by member states.

In simple terms, an ESOS Assessment requires participants to do three things:
1. Measure your total energy consumption
2. Conduct energy audits to identify cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations.
3. Report compliance to the Environment Agency (as the scheme administrator)

This has raised many questions for our Members as to whether Universities (or Colleges) are exempt from the scheme:

The guidance suggests that public bodies are not included within the scope of ESOS.
BUT
Some universities will be included within the scope of ESOS. Whether or not an individual university is included will depend on how it is funded.

A question about this was circulated to the Educational Members' Network and we compiled all of the answers into one handy resource which highlights some of the key ways to determine whether you're exempt. It's not as simple as you may have hoped!

View the EAUC Member responses.

Find out more about the scheme at www.gov.uk/energy-savings-opportunity-scheme-esos