John Field, Director of Carbon Management, Power Efficiency

March 10, 2010 - Power Efficiency, a leading energy procurement and carbon strategy consultancy, has today warned that some of the UK’s 5,000 largest energy users required to take part in the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, may not get the measures to improve their league table performance in place before the close of the first year’s reporting on 31st March 2011.

Because of the significant role AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) can play in league table performance, Power Efficiency anticipates that demand for services from AMR installation companies will outstrip the available supply in the lead up to the 31st March 2011 deadline.

For most companies covered by the scheme, the installation of AMR meters on electricity and gas supplies that do not have a mandatory requirement for half-hourly metering, can be extremely beneficial to their ranking in the public CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme league tables.  Voluntary installation of AMR on fiscal meters accounts for 50% of the league table ranking in the first year and then 20% and 10% in the following two years respectively.

John Field, Power Efficiency’s Director of Carbon Management said, “AMR can drive cost savings and has a fast Return on Investment, as well as significantly affecting league table position, but March 2011 is closer than companies think given the task of getting AMR right.  It is rarely a smooth process – taking time to assess estates, rationalise requirements for metering, calculate the right investments, and all this is before you actually get to installation and receiving meaningful information from the 17,520 readings a year that each meter produces.”

If a company has a £2m annual energy cost – mostly from large half-hourly electrical supplies – but still has 10 non-half hourly meters in operation, putting AMR on those increases the allowances the company gets back for its entire usage.  That could amount to the best part of £20,000 back through the government’s CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. Even if it costs £300-£400 to install each meter, the return on investment is less than six months!