Climate Change Agreements

What is a Climate Change Agreement?

Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) are voluntary agreements made between UK industry and the Environment Agency to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. They were established to allow energy intensive businesses to reduce the cost of the Climate Change Levy (CCL) standing charge on their electricity and gas bills. For organisations holding a CCA, the CCL will be reduced by up to:

• 90% on electricity bills
• 65% on other fuels

Companies eligible for CCA’s are those that carry out an ‘eligible process’, i.e. a process at a site which is considered energy intensive by the national Environment Agency or is controlled under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. This can be anything from plastic moulding or extruding and metal packaging to agricultural businesses such as intensive pig and poultry farming.

Climate Change Agreements provide a formal and incentivised structure to improve energy efficiency, by agreeing to challenging targets and financial penalties for non-compliance. Participants are given an overall objective by 2020, with “milestones” at 3 biennial intervals to ensure good progress is being made – 2014, 2016 and 2018.

We are currently in Phase 2 of the scheme (April 2013 – March 2023) and significant changes have been made; a new base year is in place, targets have been reset and penalties are higher. Managing CCAs in Phase 2 is a more complex task. Audit compliance is crucial to avoid new penalties for non-conformance. The Environment Agency (EA) and HMRC are requesting more comprehensive evidence packs and have already commenced auditing and imposing penalties.

How Utilitywise can help

Utilitywise has a team of Carbon Consultants and Data Analysts dedicated to offering you an all-encompassing Climate Change Agreement service. From Initial Application to data analysis and evidence collation, our team will provide the necessary guidance to ensure you can benefit from a CCL reduction through the CCA scheme.

Our service includes:

• Experienced consultants to support you through the application process
• Knowledgeable consultants from engineering and industry backgrounds
• Regular performance reporting on your progress
• Face to face meetings
• The compilation of a clear, accurate and complete evidence pack
• A formal internal audit
• Access to an in-house aM&T platform and hardware via t-mac technologies
• Advice on further actions & strategy development for the future

Why choose Utilitywise?

Utilitywise is independent of any Trade Federations and has been active in managing CCAs since they started in 2001. Our team of dedicated Data Analysts and Carbon Consultants regularly sit on government working groups, placing us at the forefront of decision-making on energy and related climate change policies including CCAs. We pride ourselves on doing a good job and offering a quality service with added value.

Our expert team:

• Provides you with essential guidance and support to make life simpler for you
• Identifies the best opportunity of minimising the cost of the buy-out or avoiding it altogether
• Eases the burden the CCA scheme may bring, so you have more time to concentrate on your business
• Prides ourselves on our excellent track record, so you can be sure that we are experts in our field
• Interprets the legislation for you to avoid confusion
• Helps you to avoid the penalties associated with the CCA scheme for non-compliance
• Provides you with peace of mind and reassurance that your compliance is in safe hands
• Informs you on any legislative changes that may affect your organisation
• Helps you to become more energy efficient which can save you money
• Help reduce global emissions and energy usage