By Dan Hubbard, Head of Energy and Carbon at Sustainable Energy First
The Environment Agency (EA) has provided an update on Phase 3 of ESOS, which includes an update on the new compliance portal, and a two-month grace period for late compliance.
Compliance portal
The long-awaited IT system – called “Manage your Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme’ (MESOS) goes live on Tuesday 19th March. Participants can register their Phase 3 user and organisational accounts from this date.
From the second half of April 2024, participants will be able to submit notification of compliance (exact date to be confirmed).
Grace period for compliance
Delays in finalising the ESOS Phase 3 guidance and compliance portal have caused concern among stakeholders regarding the tight timeframe for meeting the 5th June 2024 deadline. In response to this, the EA has offered an “enforcement extension period”.
While the 5th June deadline remains, enforcement action won’t be taken against non-compliant organisations, provided they meet two conditions:
– Registration on the new compliance portal has been completed by the 5 June 2024
– Organisations submit their notification of compliance by 6th August 2024.
In summary – key dates for your diary:
- Compliance portal (MESOS) goes live for registration – Tuesday 19th March 2024
- Compliance portal allows participants to submit notification of compliance – second half of April 2024
- Registration of participant accounts on compliance portal must be completed by 5th June 2024
- Notification of compliance must be completed by 6th August 2024.
If you’ve yet to appoint an ESOS lead assessor or would like advice on Phase 3 of the scheme, speak to the experts at Sustainable Energy First.
