The Environment Agency is facing calls to extend the September 30 deadline for a new mandatory scheme to cut company emissions after it was found that fewer than a third of core participants had signed up.
Up to 30,000 businesses and public sector organisations - including retailers, hotels, restaurants, hospitals and universities - will be covered by the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme, which requires them to register with officials and disclose their energy use.
But about 5,000 "non-energy intensive" businesses are classified as core members and must register by September 30. However, as of August 23, only 31 per cent had completed their registration, according to Environment Agency figures.
Full participants in the CRC scheme that miss the September 30 deadline face fines of up to £45,000.
Npower, the energy company, beleives that other businesses are still compiling evidence and are hopeful that the Environment Agency will extend the deadline. Dave Lewis, head of business energy services at Npower, said: "Businesses are working hard to get the necessary data together, but many are facing challenges in compiling all the information required."
Npower, which has been working with businesses to support their registration, claimed that many business failed to appreciate the scale of the task. Mr Lewis added that there was still time for companies to register for the scheme.
The Environment Agency, which is administering the scheme, has urged companies not to leave registration to the last minute. It has also created a CRC helpdesk to guide companies through the process. All public andprivate sector organisations that had at least one half-hourly electricity meter "settled on the half-hourly market during calendar year 2008" must register as a participant. An Environment Agency spokesperson said fines would not be imposed on October 1 if the companies were working towards compliance.