Are you aware of the climate change levy?

At Hudson Lancaster we recently conducted a survey asking random businesses about The CCL (Climate change levy). Firstly, did they know what it is and secondly where they aware that they are currently paying it? Hudson Lancaster CEO Phill Hudson explains.

A staggering 90% of the businesses we asked said no to both of these questions, which led us to think how many of you out there really know what your energy bill consists of?

Let me explain; the climate change levy was introduced in April 2001 as a kind of carbon tax on non domestic energy users."

The aim of the scheme is to provide an incentive for businesses to become more energy efficient. The more energy you use the higher the CCL, so if your business takes more energy efficiency measures you will reduce the amount of CCL you pay. This charge is applied to your energy bill and left for your supplier to collect directly.

It's simple really, businesses need to be more aware and conscious of their energy consumption, and you’ll become more sustainable without having to just offset your emissions by paying the climate change levy.  

Every business needs to know their numbers and with something like energy it’s crucial. More often than not businesses neglect their energy bills and tariffs, inadvertently costing themselves thousands, if not hundreds of thousands every year.

So how much is the CCL costing your business? As of April 2019 the price for Gas is 0.00339p/kWh which is an increase of 67 % since April 2018 and the price for electricity is 0.00847p/kWh an increase of 45% since April 18. There are exemptions for certain industries i.e. care homes, charities are exempt and energy intensive users can get a 90% reduction but only if they agree to sign up to the climate change agreement.

Let’s look at an example; if your business is using 20,000kW per month of electricity and 5000 kW per month of Gas your total CCL each month will be £186.35, that’s £2236.20 a year on top of your energy bill! Of course this money isn’t used to line the energy supplier’s pockets it goes straight to the government. By making some simple changes around the office, warehouse or factory you could easily reduce this by 20% and if you really wanted to make a difference you could probably half the amount and as an even bigger bonus you’re going to significantly reduce the amount you pay to your energy supplier because you have reduced your overall consumption. 

Businesses will play a huge part in the fight against Climate change and I for one believe they should be leading the way. By being energy conscious in the office staff will take that home and use what they have learned to improve their own carbon footprint which creates a network of people all working to save the planet. So now you know about the CCL, what it’s for, how much it’s costing you and how to reduce it; I just hope it will encourage you to take a closure look at your businesses energy bills and make more conscientious decisions when using energy at the work place.'

For free tips on how to reduce your consumption and save on your energy bills you can download our free report '10 tips to save your business money on energy and reduce your carbon footprint'

About us:

Hudson Lancaster Ltd is a commercial energy brokerage, working with businesses to save money on their energy bills by not only finding them the best tariff but helping them to reduce their consumption through sustainable energy management. We are looking to make waves in the commercial energy market by engaging businesses and their staff in the fight to reduce their carbon footprint.