The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is a mandatory energy assessment scheme enforced by the Environment Agency. It requires qualifying organisations to report on their energy usage every four years. The Environment Agency has announced new deadlines and commitments as part of Phase 3 compliance:

• you must submit your notification of compliance by 6 August 2024
• you must complete an action plan stating your energy saving goals
• you must complete an annual progress update stating your progress against your energy saving goals for the next two years

The action plan

The action plan must be signed off by a board level director (or equivalent) and submitted via the compliance notification system by the action plan deadline of 5 December 2024.

Annual progress update

Following submission of the action plan, you must submit an annual progress update against your action plan commitments in the two subsequent years.

The deadline for submitting annual progress updates is 12 months after the action plan deadline, and then 12 months after the submission deadline for the first progress update. For the third compliance period, the deadlines are 5 December 2025, and 5 December 2026. Each progress update relates to the 12-month period preceding the deadline.

The purpose of the progress updates is for you to report publicly on the progress you have made and to proactively take the energy saving actions you have identified and committed to. The update offers an opportunity for competitive advantage by demonstrating your commitment to and progress towards energy saving, while allowing you to capitalise on the costs saved through reduced energy consumption. If you do not submit a progress update by the relevant deadline, by default it will be recorded and published that you did not carry out any energy saving actions.

As stipulated by the Environment Agency, each annual progress update must include:

• a list of all of the energy saving actions included in the action plan that you implemented during the period of 12 months covered by the progress update
• a list of any actions in the action plan that you did not implement during the period of 12 months covered by the progress update, where the date set for the action was during the progress update period
• whether you implemented each action by the date set for it in the action plan
• an estimate of the total energy savings that you expect to have achieved over the period of 12 months up to the progress update deadline, as a result of implementing each
• for each estimate, the source of data used for the estimate
• a combined estimate of the total energy savings you expect to have achieved from these actions over the period of 12 months covered by the progress update (that is, the sum of all the individual estimates above)

How can Zenergi help?

Navigating the complexities of ESOS compliance can be daunting. Our comprehensive ESOS service manages the entire process, from data collection to reporting. Our team will guide you through every step of the process, ensuring that all data is calculated, and the necessary documentation is prepared accurately and submitted on time.

With energy and carbon analysts calculating energy consumption and identifying areas for improvement, and registered and qualified lead assessors on hand, we can identify achievable energy saving actions you can commit to that not only meet your compliance requirements, but improve your energy efficiency, allowing you to make significant savings on your energy spend.

Even if we have not completed your ESOS Phase 3 submission, we can manage the action plan and annual progress updates for you. Simply contact our team using the form below and our ESOS lead assessors will be in touch to help you manage your compliance.