indeterminate benefits
A commitment to Half Hour Metering will be credited as an ‘early action’ which should move a
participant up the CRC league table and qualify it for a larger bonus return on its carbon purchases.
But the financial case for a CRC participant to actions of the CRC participant considering the
roll out HHM voluntarily across all of its investment. It depends on the relative perform-
premises is not clear-cut. The cost of purchase ance of every other organisation that is being
and installation is the only certainty: how forced to take part in the scheme.
much the organisation will save under the CRC And without being able to determine the
scheme by making that investment is another position in the league table, the proportion of
matter. the £1.20 per tonne bonus that is available in
A commitment to metering at this level will the first operational year cannot be calculated
be credited as an ‘early action’ which – all in advance. And without that calculation, the
other factors being equal – will move a par- benefits cannot be compared with the costs.
ticipant up the CRC league table and qualify it The opportunities for a vendor like Siemens
for a larger bonus return on its carbon pur- are hedged in by uncertainty on other fronts.
chases made under the scheme. The education sector, for example, is compli-
cated in one important respect. A local au-
Uncertainty stultifies investment
thority might take the decision to purchase
HHM units for all its schools and colleges on
The problem is that the final position in the the grounds that it should improve its overall
table cannot be determined absolutely by the CRC table rankings. That would be a council
decision, paid for out of diminishing local au-
thority funds and not be charged back to the
educational establishments.
Limited benefits of Half Hour Meters
But where the cost falls on the individual
school or college’s limited budget, there are
no obvious benefits from making such a com-
mitment, Unlike an investment in a new boiler
or heating controls which will cut its operat-
ing costs directly, installing an HHM does not
benefit the establishment.
Martin Pollock, the Director of Regulatory
Affairs at SMS, accepted that there is uncer-
tainty surrounding the measurement of energy
right across the spectrum and this is holding
back decisions.
“The implementation of Half Hour Meters
away from CRC participants’ head offices will
not be clarified for some time. One of the is-
sues facing a service provider like Siemens is
“The implementation of Half Hour Meters away from CRC
determining the purpose of a smart meter –
whether for commercial customers or domes-
participants’ head offices will not be clarified for some time.
tic use.
One of the issues facing a service provider like Siemens is
“As defined by the CRC regulations, the pri-
mary purpose of installing Half Hour Meters is
determining the purpose of a smart meter – whether for
to deliver time-sliced consumption data on
commercial customers or domestic use.”
electricity to the vendor, who can communi-
cate it to the CRC administrators.”
30
The Informed Executive
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