The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme Regulations 2014

Made: 24th June2014

Laid before Parliament: 26th June 2014

Coming into force: 17th July 2014

The Secretary of State, being a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to energy and energy sources, makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by that section:

PART 1 — Introduction

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme Regulations 2014 and come into force on 17th July 2014.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations—

• “approval body” has the meaning given in regulation 12(4)(b);

• “approved list” has the meaning given in regulation 12(5);

• “approved register” has the meaning given in regulation 12(4)(a);

• “areas of significant energy consumption” has the meaning given in regulation 25(2);

• “certified energy management system” has the meaning given in regulation 33(1);

• “Chief Inspector” has the meaning given in regulation 6(1)(b);

• “compliance body” has the meaning given in regulation 6(1);

• “compliance date” has the meaning given in regulation 4(4);

• “compliance notice” has the meaning given in regulation 35(1);

• “the Directive” means Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency ;

• “display energy certificate” has the meaning given in regulation 34(4)(a);

• “employee” has the meaning given in—section 230(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 in relation to England, Wales and Scotland, andarticle 3(1) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 in relation to Northern Ireland;

• “energy” has the meaning given in Article 2(1) of the Directive;

• “energy audit” means an audit carried out, as part of an ESOS assessment, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 4;

• “energy consumption” has the meaning given in regulation 23(1);

• “energy efficiency” has the meaning given in Article 2(4) of the Directive;

• “energy intensity ratio” has the meaning given in regulation 25C(2);

• “energy measurement unit” means a unit by which the supply or consumption of energy is commonly measured;

• “energy saving category” means one of the following methods by which a participant can improve its energy efficiency—an energy management practice,a behaviour change intervention,training,a control,capital investment, ora method not falling within paragraph (a) to (e);

• “energy saving measure” has the meaning given in regulation 27A(7)(d);

• “energy saving opportunity” has the meaning given in regulation 27(1)(c);

• “enforcement notice” has the meaning given in regulation 38(1);

• “ESOS action plan” has the meaning given in regulation 34A(3);

• “ESOS assessment” means an assessment carried out in accordance with Part 4;

• “ESOS progress update” has the meaning given in regulation 34B(2);

• “ESOS report” has the meaning given in regulation 27A(4);

• “evidence pack” has the meaning given in regulation 28(1);

• “group undertaking” has the meaning given in section 1161(5) of the Companies Act 2006 ;

• “highest parent” has the meaning given in regulation 17(3);

• “highest parent group” has the meaning given in regulation 17(2);

• “initial compliance period” has the meaning given in regulation 4(1);

• “kWh” means kilowatt hours;

• “lead assessor” has the meaning given in regulation 11;

• “legislative provision” means an enactment, including—an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament, andNorthern Ireland legislation;

• “Notification System” has the meaning given in regulation 8(1);

• “offshore activity” means activity which includes—the exploitation of mineral resources in or under the shore or bed of waters in the offshore area,the conversion of a place under the shore or bed of such waters for the purpose of storing gas,the storage of gas in, under or over such waters or the recovery of gas so stored,the unloading of gas at a place in, under or over such waters, andthe provision of accommodation for persons who work on or from an offshore installation which is maintained for the production of petroleum or the storage or unloading of gaswhere storing gas includes storing gas with a view to its permanent disposal, and “gas” means gas within the meaning of section 2(4) of the Energy Act 2008 or carbon dioxide;

• “offshore area” means—the sea adjacent to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the low water mark to the landward baseline of the United Kingdom territorial sea,the United Kingdom territorial sea adjacent to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,the sea in any designated area within the meaning of section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 , andthe sea in any area for the time being designated under section 41(3) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009(d)and includes the places above those areas, and the bed and subsoil of the sea within those areas;

• “offshore installation” means an installation or structure used for carrying on an offshore activity, which is situated in the waters of, or on the seabed in, the offshore area, but excluding a ship or a floating structure which is not being maintained on station during the course of an offshore activity;

• “offshore undertaking” means an undertaking whose activities consist wholly or mainly of offshore activities;

• “organisational purpose” means one of the following purposes for which energy is consumed by assets held, or activities are carried on, by a participant—for transport,for an industrial process,for buildings, orfor any other purpose not falling within paragraph (a) to (c);

• “parent undertaking” has the meaning given in section 1162 of the Companies Act 2006;

• “participant” has the meaning given in regulation 17(1);

• “the PAS” has the meaning given in regulation 12(1);

• “penalty notice” has the meaning given in regulation 39(1);

• “premises” means any land, vehicle or vessel, or any plant which is designed to move or be moved;

• “publication penalty” has the meaning given in regulation 41(1);

• “qualification date” has the meaning given in regulation 4(3);

• “qualifying Green Deal assessment” has the meaning given in regulation 34(4)(b);

• “reference period” has the meaning given in regulation 22(5);

• “relevant undertaking” has the meaning given in regulation 15(1);

• “responsible officer” has the meaning given in regulation 30(2);

• “responsible undertaking” has the meaning given in regulation 18;

• “the Scheme” means the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme established by these Regulations;

• “scheme administrator” has the meaning given in regulation 5;

• “significant energy consumption” has the meaning given in regulation 25(4);

• “standard industrial classification” means the Office for National Statistics’ “UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 2007 (SIC 2007);

• “subsequent compliance period” has the meaning given in regulation 4(2);

• “subsidiary undertaking” has the meaning given in section 1162 of the Companies Act 2006;

• “undertaking” has the meaning given in section 1161(1) of the Companies Act 2006;

• “working day” means any day other than—a Saturday or a Sunday,Christmas Day or Good Friday, ora bank holiday within the meaning of section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 .

• (2) Save as otherwise appears, any reference in these Regulations to a numbered Part, Chapter or regulation is a reference to that numbered Part, Chapter or regulation in these Regulations.

Duty to review

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• (1) At intervals of no more than 5 years, the Secretary of State must—

• (a) carry out a review of the operation and effect of these Regulations,

• (b) publish the conclusions of the review in a report.

• (2) In carrying out a review the Secretary of State must, so far as is reasonable, have regard to how Article 8(4) to (6) of the Directive is transposed in other Member States.

• (3) Any report must in particular—

• (a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by these Regulations,

• (b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved,

• (c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and

• (d) where the objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be more effectively achieved.

PART 2 — The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme

CHAPTER 1 — Scheme compliance periods

Compliance periods

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• (1) The “initial compliance period” means the period which begins on the coming into force of these Regulations and ends on 5th December 2015.

• (2) A “subsequent compliance period” means a period which—

• (a) begins on the 6th December immediately following the end of the preceding compliance period, and

• (b) ends on the 5th December four years later.

• (3) The “qualification date” means—

• (a) in relation to the initial compliance period, 31st December 2014,

• (b) in relation to a subsequent compliance period, the 31st December immediately preceding the compliance date for that compliance period.

• (4) The “compliance date” means—

• (a) in relation to the compliance period beginning on 6th December 2019—

• (i) for the purposes of regulations 10 (publication of information), 22(3) (exclusion of assets no longer held on the compliance date), 26(4) (period of energy audit), 27A (ESOS report), 29 (notification of compliance) and paragraphs 7 and 7A of Schedule 2 (groups of undertakings - change of group), 5th June 2024,

• (ii) for the purposes of regulations 33 (compliance with ISO 50001) and 34 (display energy certificates and green deal assessments), either 5th December 2023 or 5th June 2024, as the participant elects, and

• (iii) for all other purposes, 5th December 2023, and

• (b) in relation to all other compliance periods, the 5th December on which that compliance period ends.

CHAPTER 2 — Scheme administration

Scheme administrator

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The “scheme administrator” is the Environment Agency.

Compliance bodies

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• (1) The “compliance body” means—

• (a) the scheme administrator, in respect of England,

• (b) the Chief Inspector constituted under regulation 8(3) of the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (the “Chief Inspector”), in respect of Northern Ireland,

• (c) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, in respect of Scotland,

• (d) the Natural Resources Body for Wales, in respect of Wales,

• (e) the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in respect of offshore undertakings.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (1), two compliance bodies may agree which of them will act as the compliance body in relation to a participant.

Co-operation and sharing of information

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• (1) The compliance bodies must—

• (a) co-operate with each other in the exercise of their functions under these Regulations,

• (b) provide each other with such of the information provided to, or obtained by them, under these Regulations or any other legislative provision, as is required to enable them to carry out their functions under these Regulations.

• (2) A compliance body must, when requested by another compliance body, assist it in the exercise of its functions under these Regulations, by taking any action specified in the request where it is reasonable to do so.

• (3) In this regulation a reference to “functions” means, in relation to the Environment Agency, its functions as scheme administrator and as a compliance body.

Notification System

8

• (1) The scheme administrator must ensure the establishment of a system (the “Notification System”) which enables responsible undertakings to—

• (a) notify information as required by these Regulations, and

• (b) voluntarily notify such additional information as the scheme administrator considers appropriate.

• (2) The scheme administrator must take reasonable steps to ensure that the Notification System is available for use by responsible undertakings at such times as the scheme administrator considers reasonable.

• (3) The scheme administrator may establish administrative arrangements in relation to the operation of the Notification System.

Provision of information to the Secretary of State

9

The scheme administrator must provide to the Secretary of State any information held by it by virtue of these Regulations as is requested.

Publication of information

10

• (1) The scheme administrator must publish the following information to the extent that it is held on the Notification System—

• (a) the number of undertakings that have complied with the Scheme excluding Part 6A,

• (b) a list of responsible undertakings which have notified information in accordance with regulation 8(1)(a) and, where they have notified additional information under regulation 8(1)(b), ... that information.

• (c) the information specified in column 3 of Tables A to I in Schedule 3,

• (d) each ESOS action plan, and

• (e) each ESOS progress update.

• (2) The scheme administrator must publish the information referred to in—

• (a) paragraph (1)(a), (b) and (c), within the period of 6 months beginning with the compliance date for the compliance period to which the information relates, or within the period of 6 months beginning with the date of notification of the information using the Notification System, whichever is the later,

• (b) paragraph (1)(d), within the period of 6 months beginning with the date by which the responsible undertaking must notify the ESOS action plan in accordance with regulation 34A(6), or within the period of 6 months beginning with the date of notification of the information using the Notification System, whichever is the later, and

• (c) paragraph (1)(e), within the period of 6 months beginning with the date by which the responsible undertaking must notify the ESOS progress update in accordance with regulation 34B(6), or within the period of 6 months of beginning with the date of notification of the information using the Notification System, whichever is the later.

CHAPTER 3 — Lead assessors

Lead assessors

11

In these Regulations “lead assessor” means an individual whose name appears on an approved register.

Approval bodies and approved registers

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• (1) The scheme administrator must determine whether an individual meets the competence requirements (the “competence requirements”) set out in Publicly Available Specification 51215 (“the PAS”) , in accordance with this regulation and regulation 13.

• (2) The scheme administrator must consider an application by a professional body for a determination that the individuals on a register maintained by that body meet the competence requirements.

• (3) Where the scheme administrator is not satisfied that a register is a register of individuals who meet the competence requirements, it must make a determination to that effect and notify the professional body maintaining that register accordingly.

• (4) Where the scheme administrator is satisfied that a register is a register of individuals who meet the competence requirements, it must make a determination to that effect and notify the professional body maintaining that register accordingly, and—

• (a) “approved register” means a register which the scheme administrator has determined is a register of individuals who meet the competence requirements, and

• (b) “approval body” means a professional body that maintains an approved register.

• (5) The scheme administrator must publish a list of approved registers (the “approved list”) by 5th December 2014, and must keep that list up to date in accordance with regulation 13.

• (6) An approval body must—

• (a) take reasonable steps to ensure that an individual on its approved register continues to meet the competence requirements,

• (b) ensure that its approved register contains an up to date record of individuals who meet the competence requirements,

• (c) maintain a record of the name of any individual who is removed from its approved register, including the date on which they were removed and the reason for their removal, for four years after that removal,

• (d) respond to reasonable requests from the scheme administrator, the compliance bodies and participants, for confirmation that an individual is on its approved register,

• (e) notify the scheme administrator of any substantive changes to the process for including an individual on its approved register.

• (7) In making a determination under paragraph (3) or (4), or reviewing the approved list under regulation 13(1), the scheme administrator may require such information from the professional body as is necessary to make its determination.

• (8) For the purposes of this Chapter “professional body” means—

• (a) a professional association, membership of which is wholly or mainly restricted to individuals who have, or are seeking to attain, a recognised level of competence appropriate to the practice of the profession concerned, or