From April next year, all large companies in the UK will be required to disclose their energy use, efficiency and carbon emissions in their annual reports. This is to be introduced as part of the Government’s reform package, with the goal of 20% improved energy efficiency across industry by 2030.

Large businesses are already required to monitor their energy usage as part of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), however this disclosure is not currently public.

The new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) framework will apply to all quoted and incorporated unquoted firms, with an exemption for unquoted businesses should obtaining the SECR information be seen as impractical.

Additionally, if businesses are able to confirm an annual usage of less than 40,000kWh, they will not be required to disclose SECR information.

It is predicted that the introduction of this framework will bring the total number of businesses reporting on energy usage to around 11,900.