Did you and your related corporate entities collectively use more than 0.5 petajoules of energy during the 2005–06 financial year? There are approximately 250 corporations estimated to fall into this category. If you are one of them, you must register with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (department) before 31 March 2007 or risk a fine of up to $110,000.

What Happens After Registration?

  • You will be required to prepare and submit a plan, detailing how you will be assessing energy efficiency opportunities available to your business over the next five years. The plan must include a reporting schedule.
  • You will need to conduct assessments in accordance with your plan.
  • Finally, you will be required to report on the results of your assessment both to the public and to the department.

The Assessment Plan

The assessment plan you prepare is intended to assist you in finding ways for improving the energy efficiency of your business. The plan must cover key elements such as leadership, personnel, data analysis, opportunity evaluation, decision making, and communicating outcomes. Your plan will have to be approved by the department, to ensure it complies with all the necessary requirements of the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Act 2006 (Cth) (Act).

Conducting the Assessment

You will need to assess a minimum of 80 per cent of your corporate group’s energy use in the first five year cycle (90 per cent in subsequent cycles), as well as assessing every site that uses over 0.5 petajoules a year. These assessments may need to involve people from all levels of the business, from site level and up to head office.

Reporting

The reports you are required to prepare must include:

  • a description of how you carried out your approved assessment plan
  • the results of carrying out the assessments, and
  • your response to the opportunities uncovered by the assessments.

The reports will need to be reviewed by your board and signed off by your CEO, MD or equivalent. A convenient way of publicising the reports is by including them in your annual financial reports.

Enforcement

Don’t be caught out! Failure to comply with the Act can attract bad publicity, fines of up to $110,000, and authorised officers to your premises under a monitoring warrant.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.