Energy saving obligation

The energy saving obligation requires businesses with substantial energy use to take every energy-saving measure that pays for itself within five years. A periodic reporting duty applies, and for the largest users an investigation duty as well.

Legal basis

Since 1 January 2024 the obligation sits in the Environmental Activities Decree under the Environment and Planning Act, continuing the earlier regime. It applies to sites using at least 50,000 kilowatt hours of electricity or 25,000 cubic metres of natural gas equivalent a year. Recognised Measures Lists set out, by sector, the measures that always count as paying back within the period. A report must be filed every four years with the competent authority, usually the environmental agency acting for the municipality. Since 2023 the duty has also applied to permit-holding businesses and to participants in the emissions trading system, and its scope has been extended to measures relating to the building, to processes and to the company’s own vehicle fleet. Enforcement follows the ordinary administrative route, with an order subject to a penalty as the main instrument.

How it works in practice

The report is no formality: environmental agencies carry out targeted checks and impose orders where there is persistent default. For tenants and landlords, who must take the measure is a recurring question; the duty rests on whoever carries out the activity, but the investment usually sits with the owner. A sustainability clause in the lease prevents that stalemate.

Where it goes wrong

Businesses file the report but do not implement the recognised measures, believing the report is enough. A second error is misjudging consumption, so the duty is wrongly treated as inapplicable. Third, in landlord and tenant relationships the allocation of costs is left unresolved.