Scheme participants must meet the obligations for the relevant scheme. Most entities will be a scheme participant of both the Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) and Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS). 

Meeting your ESS obligations 

Scheme participants of the ESS meet their obligations when they:

  • lodge an ESS Annual Statement in TESSA by the due date listed on the Scheme participant compliance timeline in which they:
    • calculate their individual energy savings target
    • nominate any shortfall to be carried forward to the next year
    • surrender energy savings certificates (ESCs) equivalent to their combined individual energy savings target and shortfall carried forward from the previous year.
  • pay any shortfall penalty by the due date listed on the Scheme participant compliance timeline if they failed to fully meet their combined individual energy savings target and shortfall carried forward from the previous year through the surrender of ESCs.

Meeting your PDRS obligations 

Scheme participants of the PDRS meet their obligations when they:

  • notify us of their PDRS non-market acquisitions and exempt electricity loads, which they are deemed to have met when they submit their Individual Liable Demand
  • notify us of their Individual Liable Demand in TESSA by the due date listed on the Scheme participant compliance timeline
  • lodge a PDRS Annual Statement in TESSA by the due date listed on the Scheme participant compliance timeline in which they:
    • calculate their individual certificate target
    • nominate any shortfall to be carried forward to the next year
    • surrender peak reduction certificates (PRCs) equivalent to their combined individual certificate target and shortfall carried forward from the previous year.
  • pay any shortfall penalty by the due date listed on the Scheme participant compliance timeline if they failed to fully meet their combined individual certificate target and shortfall carried forward from the previous year through the surrender of PRCs.

Guidance on meeting your obligations

We provide detailed guidance on meeting your obligations in our Compliance Guide - Scheme Participants, our Auditing Scheme Participants page and instructional videos available via our TESSA for scheme participants page.

Determine if you need an audit

Prior to lodging your ESS Annual Statement and prior to notifying of your PDRS Individual Liable Demand you need to identify your liable acquisitions, upon which your liability is based, and report them in your Declaration of Liable Acquisitions (DLA). You can report your ESS and PDRS liable acquisitions in the same DLA or in separate DLAs.

You also need to determine if you need an audit. You will need an audit if you intend to claim an exempt electricity load or have non-market acquisitions above the audit threshold listed in the Compliance Guide - Scheme Participants.