Local authorities facing £86 million carbon tax bill
Cash-strapped councils face a combined carbon tax bill of £86 million next year which risks stripping funds from energy saving projects, experts have warned.
From 2012, councils will have to pay £12 for each tonne of CO2 they emit, including through heating and lighting communal areas of council housing, as part of the government’s carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency scheme.
More than 200 UK councils are regulated by the Environment Agency under the CRC because they use at least 6,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. The agency last week published the first CRC league table, which showed councils emitted about 7.1 million tonnes of CO2 last year, equating to a collective bill of £86 million.
Two housing associations also appeared on the league table; 2,000-home Cosmopolitan Housing Group and 5,000 Broadacres Housing Association which face bills of £78,000 and £5,100 respectively.
The league table scores organisations out of 100 based on whether they take energy efficiency measures and install smart meters. Both housing associations and 24 councils scored zero points.
David Parsons, chair of the Local Government Association’s environment board, branded the scheme a ‘distraction’. ‘It is far too complex and time-consuming, and it has distracted councils from improving energy efficiency and saving money,’ he said.
Amanda de Swarte, head of improvement and efficiency at the London Energy Project, said there was a risk councils will divert funding from energy efficiency projects to pay it.
Birmingham Council, which faces the biggest bill of any single council at more than £2.1 million, said the money will not result in cuts to energy-saving projects.
A spokesperson for Broadacres said it had half-hourly meters in its headquarters which monitor energy use. Businesses with such meters are required to report energy use under the CRC. The spokesperson added that many other housing associations will not have installed meters.
