UK: How much CCL are you paying?

Effective April 2019, there will be increases in the Climate Change Levy (CCL), a tax charged on gas, electricity, LPG, coal and coke implemented through business user’s energy bills:

Electricity CCL rate will increase by 45% to 0.847 pence/kWh
Gas CCL rate will increase by 67% to 0.339 pence/kWh
LPG CCL rate will increase by 67% to 1.0875 pence/litre

Businesses in the poultry, pig and horticulture sector, who have a climate change agreement (CCA), will benefit from discounted CCL rates in return for signing up to energy saving targets and reporting their energy consumption data. Alongside the increase in CCL charges, there will also be an increase in the percentage discounts available. The CCL discount scheme is operated by the NFU, both for members at preferential cost and non-members.

The increased discounts available from April 2019 are:

Electricity 93% (currently 90%)
Relief on CCL paid on Natural Gas, LPG and Coal is rising to 78% from 65%

For example, over a two year period, a horticulturalist growing tomatoes* in a 5,000m2 production area heated by a gas boiler:

*Any crops grown in controlled, environment–protected structures are covered by the scheme.

What’s the catch?
The CCL discount requires producers to sign up to energy saving targets. By achieving these, businesses will receive the discount until March 2023. If the targets aren’t met, there is an option to pay a buy-out fee to continue receiving the discount. Many producers exited the scheme when the costs outweighed the benefits under current rates. With these changes set to come in force, the increased benefits means it now may well be worthwhile re-entering. In addition, many producers have seen electricity costs increase significantly after installing biomass boilers, increasing benefits further still.

Will you benefit?
FEC Energy advises to act now as the deadline for new or re-entries into the scheme is 30 June 2018, however, you will be required to apply a couple of months prior to this to get established in time.

To find out how you could benefit, they have produced a simple online calculator now available on their website http://ccl.fec-energy.co.uk/.

For more information about how to join the CCL scheme visit http://ccl.fec-energy.co.uk/how-to-join, or alternatively, call Steve on 024 7669 3043.