From April 2019, Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) comes into force. It replaces the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) with a simpler reporting framework. This builds on the existing mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by UK quoted companies and the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS).

SECR aims to ensure more businesses benefit from carbon and energy reporting. It encourages the implementation of energy efficiency measures enabling businesses to cut costs, improve productivity and reduce carbon emissions.

Companies that consume more than 40MWh of energy and meet the following criteria must comply with SECR unless they meet the defined exemption criteria:

• The company is an LLP or Quoted UK company of any size that is obliged to report under mandatory greenhouse gas reporting regulations
  

• The company is a registered and unregistered unquoted UK company that meets at least two of the following criteria:

• Employ 250 or more employees

• A turnover of £36 million or more

• A balance sheet total of at least £18 million or more

• Large Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) who are required to prepare and file an Energy and Carbon Report
  

If companies fall into the above criteria but use less than 40MWh of energy, they will still need to include a statement within their report confirming that they are a low-energy user.

In the instance where there is a parent company with subsidiaries, the energy and carbon data for all entities should be included in the group-level report. A subsidiary will not need to report its own energy and carbon information if it has been included in the group-level report. However, there is an option to exclude a subsidiary from the group report if it would not be obliged to report under SECR in its own right.

All private sector organisations are encouraged to report their carbon and greenhouse gas emissions even if they fall outside of the scope for SECR.