Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) Made Easy

What is SECR?

SECR stands for Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting. It's a legal requirement for larger UK companies and LLPs to publish how much energy they use, and the carbon emissions that come from it, once a year in their annual report. It applies to financial years starting on or after 1 April 2019. It was brought in by the then Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is now run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Download our free guide: A guide to SECR (PDF, 13 pages) covers who has to report, a worked example, deadlines, penalties and the mistakes we see most often. Updated 6 November 2026.

Is SECR changing?

Not yet, so the rules below are the ones to follow. The government's post-implementation review, published on 26 May 2026 and updated on 26 October 2026, recommends keeping SECR with targeted changes to cut duplication. A consultation on changes to SECR and ESOS is planned, but no date has been set.

Separately, the Department for Business and Trade's Modernising corporate reporting consultation runs from 7 September to 30 November 2026. It proposes scrapping the directors' report. SECR would stay, but could go anywhere in the annual report. The government's answer is due by the end of May 2027.

The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS S1 and S2) were published on 25 February 2026. They're voluntary for now and don't replace SECR.

Who needs to report?

You need to report, whatever your size, if your company's shares are listed on a stock exchange. That means the main market of an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange, an EU exchange, the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. Companies on AIM don't count. Listed companies report their worldwide energy use and emissions, plus the share that's in the UK.

Every other company and LLP needs to report if it goes over two of these three limits in the financial year:

• £36 million turnover
• £18 million balance sheet total (gross assets)
• 250 employees

You have to be over two of the three, not just one. These limits are written into the SECR regulations (Schedule 7, Part 7A of the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups Regulations 2008), so they didn't change when the general company size limits went up to £54 million turnover and £27 million balance sheet in April 2025.

A few things catch people out:

• Low energy users. If you used 40,000 kWh or less in the UK during the year, you can leave the figures out, but you have to say in the report that this is the reason.
• Subsidiaries. A large subsidiary doesn't need its own figures if its parent's group report already includes it and the parent's year ends on or before its own.
• Groups. A parent company does the size test on the whole group's figures.
• LLPs. Same test, but the figures go in a separate Energy and Carbon Report filed with the accounts.
• Charities. Charitable companies use gross income instead of turnover and put the figures in the trustees' report.

The government's 2026 review found about 19,900 companies and LLPs are in scope, against the 11,300 it predicted when SECR started. It also estimates 14% to 23% of them aren't complying, mostly private companies and LLPs.

Quick check: does SECR apply to you?

Work down these four questions in order and stop at your answer.

1. Are your shares listed on a stock exchange? If yes, you need a full SECR report covering your worldwide figures.
2. Are you over two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 staff? If no, SECR doesn't apply, although you can still report if you want to.
3. Are you included in a parent's group report? If yes, your parent covers it. Name the parent in your own accounts.
4. Did you use over 40,000 kWh in the UK? If no, you're a low energy user and say so in the report. If yes, you need a full SECR report covering your UK energy and emissions.

What goes in a SECR report?

A SECR report is usually less than a page of your annual report. It has to cover six things:

Which emissions count

• Scope 1 is fuel you burn yourself, like the gas in your boilers or the diesel in your vans.
• Scope 2 is the electricity you buy from the grid.
• Scope 3 is only needed for one thing: fuel for business journeys in staff's own cars or hire cars, where you pay for the fuel or the mileage. This part is required, not optional. Commuting doesn't count.

Transport covers company cars and vans, mileage claims for staff using their own cars on business, hire cars and on-site vehicles such as fork-lift trucks. Train tickets, flights, taxis and haulage you pay another firm for can be left out, although you can show them separately if you want to. You can also choose to report wider emissions, such as refrigerant leaks, but they aren't required.

Green tariffs

The government asks for electricity emissions on the grid average, known as the location-based figure. If you're on a renewable tariff backed by REGO certificates you can show a lower market-based figure as well, but it goes next to the grid average, not instead of it. Being on a green tariff doesn't mean you can report zero.

The 2026 conversion factors

Use the UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting for the year you're reporting on. The 2026 set was published in June 2026 and revised in July 2026:

• Grid electricity: 0.13096 kg CO2e per kWh
• Natural gas: 0.18231 kg CO2e per kWh (gross)
• Diesel: 2.58354 kg CO2e per litre
• Average car: 0.26699 kg CO2e per mile
• Average diesel van: 0.41386 kg CO2e per mile

The 2026 electricity factor is 26% lower than 2025's, so your electricity emissions will drop this year even if your usage hasn't. Explain that in the report rather than counting it as a saving.

For example, a site using 2,400,000 kWh of grid electricity a year works out at 2,400,000 × 0.13096 = 314,304 kg, or 314.3 tonnes of CO2e. Our guide has a full worked example for a manufacturer with gas, electricity, vans and staff mileage.

When is it due?

SECR doesn't have a deadline of its own. It's due with your accounts and covers the same financial year: 9 months after the year end for a private company or LLP, and 6 months for a public company.

In practice you need the figures earlier, because your auditor reads the directors' report before signing the accounts. Getting a full year of reads from every supplier is where most reports get held up, so start about three months before your accounts are due.

What happens if you don't report?

There's no fine for SECR itself. It's enforced the same way as the rest of your annual report:

• Your auditor has to say whether the directors' report meets the law and matches the accounts, and can qualify the audit report if it doesn't.
• The Financial Reporting Council can open an enquiry and, as a last resort, ask a court to order revised accounts.
• Directors who approve a directors' report they know breaks the rules, or are reckless about it, commit an offence under section 419 of the Companies Act 2006. The fine on indictment is unlimited.
• If your accounts are late because the SECR figures aren't ready, Companies House charges the usual late filing penalty: £150 to £1,500 for a private company and £750 to £7,500 for a public company.

There's also no requirement for independent assurance of your SECR figures, although the government recommends it.

What does it cost?

The government's 2026 review found SECR takes an average of 94 hours of staff time a year, which is about £2,500. Just over half (56%) of companies also pay for outside help, bringing the average total to £7,100 a year. Companies with fewer than 300 staff spent around £4,700, and those with 1,000 or more spent around £12,200. Most said it gets quicker after the first year.

Common mistakes

1. Using the new company size limits (£54m and £27m) instead of SECR's £36m and £18m.
2. Using bills that don't match your financial year. Quarterly and estimated bills straddle the year end, so every meter needs cutting to the exact dates.
3. Missing meters. A meter that's not on your list just drops out of the figures.
4. Leaving out staff mileage.
5. Reporting a green tariff as zero.
6. Claiming the 2026 drop in the grid electricity factor as your own saving.
7. Leaving out last year's figures, the method note or the energy efficiency actions.

SECR and ESOS

Many companies that do SECR also fall under ESOS, the energy audit that runs every four years. You're in ESOS phase 4 if, on 31 December 2026, you have 250 or more staff, or turnover over £44 million and a balance sheet over £38 million. The phase 4 notification is due by 5 December 2027, and phase 3 progress updates are due by 5 December 2026. The meter and fuel data you collect for SECR feeds straight into the ESOS audit. Our guide to ESOS energy saving measures ranks the options.

How Purely Energy can help

• Free SECR readiness check. Send us your company name and financial year end. We'll check which of your meters and sites we can see, pull the usage we can get for your financial year, and tell you in writing what's missing and who needs chasing, while there's still time to sort it before your accounts are due.
• Your energy data. If we already manage your electricity and gas, most of your SECR energy data is already with us. Purely Insights keeps your meters, contracts and usage in one place, so you start from a complete meter list rather than a pile of bills.
• Metering. Smart and half-hourly meters send actual reads, so your SECR figures and your bills stop relying on estimates. We can arrange the upgrade with your supplier.
• Procurement. We buy your energy at the right time and on the right contract. Your renewal is a good time to tidy up the meter list and decide whether a renewable tariff is worth it, knowing how it will show in your report.

This article is general information, not legal or accounting advice. Check your own position with your accountant or auditor. Figures and dates are correct at 6 November 2026.

Contact us on 0161 521 3400 or email info@purelyenergy.co.uk, or get an online quote from 18 suppliers.