The BPIF has welcomed the Government’s two-year extension to the current Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme, due to end in July 2025 and not now ending before July 2027. Crucially, it has also reopened the joining window for the scheme to the end of September 2023 and the federation is urging PSPs to sign up.
The BPIF – which has long been the sole provider of the Umbrella Agreement on behalf of the whole print sector and currently administers the scheme for around 330 of the larger energy users within the industry – is flagging up that the September deadline is likely to be the final chance for PSPs to take advantage of savings via the programme.
The federation points out that typically, a company using 500,000 kWh’s of electricity in a year would have an annual saving of £3,650 a year before scheme costs. And with the scheme being extended to April 2027 that would mean a saving of around £14,600 over the period. The savings on gas would be in addition to the figures quoted, but are usually smaller as gas is mainly used for heating.
The scheme is site specific and by sending the BPIF the site’s annual consumption of electricity in kWhs, it can let the business know how much the site would save. Even by just sending over a representative monthly bill, the site can get an estimate of the savings on offer.
The BPIF will take the site through the requirements of the application process providing it with sample templates and explaining the work involved. Once the application is complete it will be submitted to the government on the site’s behalf by the BPIF, who will then explain how to start claiming the discount.
Charles Jarrold said: “The CCA rebate scheme has been highly effective in motivating companies to examine and reduce their emissions and energy use, while also offsetting the otherwise considerable costs of the levy. It’s been a great success story for the sector, so, we were pleased after extensive representations that government recognised the need for the incentives to stay in place. We are now working with Government to look at what happens after 2027, to ensure that if a different scheme is adopted it works to support UK print competitiveness.”
