With the extended grace period for ESOS ending soon there have been several things learned from the process so far. One of the first insights is that many of the companies were completely new to energy management. This is one of the real successes of ESOS that differentiates it from other legislation or regulations. ESOS has managed to cast a wider net compared to many other schemes and required businesses to take real action to understand their energy use.
ESOS assessments undertaken by the Carbon Trust were looked at and show an average energy spend of around £1.8m. More importantly if cost-effective measures were to be undertaken the average reduction achievable was around 20% which for business with energy spend of £1.8m would translate into savings of £360,000. Optimal Monitoring are able to help identify these cost effective measures as well as utility audits and practical assistance.
We hope that this means that by the end of 2019 when ESOS rolls around again, we will see many businesses that are already reaping the financial rewards from investments in improving energy efficiency. We also know that many will seek to avoid the crunch period we have seen over the last few months by completing certification to ISO 50001, so that they can automatically comply with the regulations in future.
It appears ESOS has been successful in making sure that businesses have assessed and better understood their energy saving opportunities. However the real proof of success will be in the rates of actual implementation.
