The Climate Change Levy
How will it affect you?
The Climate Change Levy
How will it affect you?
Many companies will be in for a nasty shock when they receive their next electricity bill after April 2001.
They will find that they are having to pay 0.43p* more for every kWh of power that they have consumed. At the same time, bills for other fuels will have risen, although less dramatically at 0.15p/kWh for coal and gas, and 0.07p/kWh for LPG.
The reason for these increases is the Government's new Climate Change Levy scheme.
| The origins of the Levy date back to the Kyoto summit conference held in Japan in 1997, when world's big leaders agreed that drastic measures were needed to curtail the emission of the "greenhouse gases" thought to be responsible for global warming. | *This could be an EXTRA £226 per year for every 5.5kW motor in continuous use, and an EXTRA £774 per year on each 90kW motor running for 40 hours per week.! |
The aim of the Climate Change Levy is to discourage profligate use of energy. It will affect almost every non-domestic user of energy, from manufacturing & industrial companies, to warehousing and utilities.
There are a few exemptions including, for example, renewable forms of energy such as wind and solar power, "good quality" CHP (combined heat and power) schemes, and electrolysis plants.
An initiative to encourage the adoption of energy-saving equipment is a tax incentive, and in certain circumstances that will allow companies to write off 100% of the cost of fitting energy efficient equipment. This scheme, known as Enhanced Capital Allowances or ECAs, are expected to cost the Exchequer up to £100m in the 2001-2002 tax year.
Eight categories of equipment have been chosen to be eligible for the new ECA's, including refrigeration, boilers and lighting equipment. A key product in this area of technology is AC variable speed drives or inverters.
| "Variable frequency inverter drives, together with high energy efficiency motors are the two key types of motion control equipment that now qualify for the new ECA allowances" |  |
As electric motors are by far the largest consumers of electrical energy (approx 60%), by using energy saving products such as Mitsubishi AC variable speed drives to control the speed of electric motors, YOU can improve your energy efficiency and consumption, and thus REDUCE YOUR ELECTRICITY BILLS!
Variable speed drives have improved countless applications through energy saving, and contribute to overall improvements in reduced process control & maintenance costs.
For more information on our variable speed drive applications see our application studies pages.
For more information on our energy efficiency products or other product ranges, then call us now for friendly help and advice on 01925 444773.