The carbon reduction scheme is currently aimed at approximately 5,000 of the UK's largest organisations, including supermarkets, banks, property management companies, government departments, hotel groups, food retail chains and local authorities.

Essentially, the carbon reduction commitment will affect organisations whose half hourly electricity consumption totals more than 6,000 MWh per year (equivalent to approximately £500,000 annual spend). Any organisation that falls within this category will be required to record account for all energy (other than transport fuels), including electricity, gas and oil.

Energy consumption during 2008 will be used as the qualifying year to identify if an organisation will be subject to the Carbon Reduction Commiment. Records of electricity use will be taken from mandatory half hourly meters, voluntary half hourly meters, remote read meter readings and pseudo hal hourly meters.

If the total of all of these half hourly meter readin exceeds 6,000,000 kWh during 2008 then you wll fall within the scheme. Either way, if you have any half hourly meter readings, you will have to declare whether or not you qualify for the scheme during April to Septeber 2010 (updated date).

During summer 2009, the environment agency will issue a letter to the billing address of every organisation in the UK that has an electricity meter that records half hourly readings. The letter will ask for these organisations to identify whether the entire organisation uses more than 6,000 MWh of HH electricity and therefore be required to enter into the carbon reduction commitment scheme, or not.

Organisations may be exempt from the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme if they have a large Climate Change Agreement. Declarations of exemption due to CCA will need to be made by 31st July 2011 (revised date from 31st July 2010).