Your energy policy

An energy policy describes your energy efficiency goals in broad terms. If you want to make a serious commitment to managing energy, getting a policy in place is a good start.

An energy policy is a unique statement which can appear in annual reports or other company literature. To inspire action it should have measurable, specific goals covering:

  • who has accountability
  • what your overall energy targets are
  • how you will monitor and review progress
  • human resources and training commitments
  • how energy management will be integrated into wider business processes
  • economic investment criteria
  • integrating energy efficiency into new capital investments
  • reporting procedures 

  • links to environmental programmes

Developing your energy policy - a checklist

This checklist is a guide to help you cover the necessary bases in developing an energy policy:

  • Ensure it has the backing of senior management.
  • Incorporate your energy vision into your company's mission statement.
  • Get input from staff at many levels - everyone who is affected should contribute.
  • Vet the policy in the normal way, making sure it is compatible with other goals (strategic, policy and business).
  • Have it adopted formally into your company's management processes. (This is important to gain enough resources).
  • List strategic issues arising from the mission statement and the impacts they make on energy. Set goals to enable your organisation to deal with these strategic issues.
  • Outline processes which support the goals, and consider how these can be integrated into the existing corporate culture and structure.

One thing to consider is whether your energy policy should be part of a wider environmental policy? Although there are links, a combined policy may confuse the focus and obscure the benefits of saving energy.

A sample energy policy

You can use this sample as a guide to help prepare your own energy policy.

Energy policy

Our declaration of commitment
As part of our ‘manage for profit' strategy, we are committed to responsible energy use and will practise energy efficiency in all premises, plant and equipment, wherever it is cost effective.

 

Policy

Our policy is to control energy consumption to:

  • avoid unnecessary expenditure
  • improve cost-effectiveness and productivity
  • enhance working conditions
  • improve our environmental performance and
  • contribute to corporate social responsibility

 

Objectives

Our long-term objectives are to:

  • buy electricity and fuels at the most economic cost
  • utilise energy as efficiently as we practically can
  • reduce the amount of pollution and GHG emissions caused by our energy consumption
  • reduce, wherever possible, our dependence on fossil fuels, through the use of on-site and renewable energy

 

Immediate aims [completed by....]:

  • to gain control over our energy consumption by reviewing and improving our purchasing, operating, training and communication [add date]
  • to appoint an energy manager reporting to the chief executive [add date]
  • to set up an energy team or committee with staff from each key area [add date]
  • to invest in a rolling programme of energy-saving measures [add date]
  • to set up a reporting system which gives useful, timely information to decision-makers [add date]

 

Once you have an energy policy in place as a high-level commitment, you'll need a strategy and plan to get things in motion.

Find out how to develop an energy strategy.

From the Resource Centre

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