Businesses operating within Energy Intensive Industries (ElIs) should be taking a long, hard look at the compensation offered by a government scheme to improve their competitiveness. Businesswise Solutions, a business energy management specialist, has identified eligible sectors that operate under restricting environmental taxes and could be entitled to substantial compensation on electricity.
Peter Catlow, Businesswise Solutions’ director of cost management, explained: “The rebates are a partial unwinding of the government’s Renewables Obligation and Feed-in-Tariff schemes for EIIs, put in place to meet targets to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050.”
Initially, however, this has resulted in an increased electricity price for businesses within Energy Intensive Industries. Recognising the commercial damage this has caused high energy using businesses, the Government has committed to providing compensation of these RO and FIT levies; which represent some 15/20 percent of a business’ electricity bill.
Catlow said: “Energy Intensive Industries have long argued that these environment taxes impose a financial burden, which is not suffered by their international counterparts.
“This poses a threat to the UK’s competitiveness in manufacturing so the new government schemes will come as welcoming news to eligible sectors.
“The rates which businesses pay for their energy are made up of various items of which significant elements are RO and FIT – green levies.
“On average, these might represent 1.5p to 2p Kwh of a business’ say 10p Kwh spend – so in effect 15/20% of their spend is green tax; a large amount when you consider such high intensity usage over a year.
“We’re currently speaking with a customer who uses 20Gb of energy per year, and if we estimate that they could be eligible for a rebate of 2p per kwh, then they are looking at a refund of £400K. And that is not a one-off payment; the rates set from the outset will apply for the foreseeable future as to date no cap has been announced.”
Businesses which fall into these sectors, can apply for the compensation via a two stage application process. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), who are promoting and funding the schemes, have put together a comprehensive set of guidance notes, (24 pages in length) which set out the processes to be followed to check, and hopefully confirm their eligibility for financial assistance.
Those looking to make a claim will benefit the most from doing it as soon as possible – as claims cannot be back-dated, every month that passes is a lost income opportunity. For further information about how your company can benefit from compensation and to see if your business falls into an Energy Intensive Industry, please contact peter@businesswisesolutions.co.uk.
