# Does electricity on a temporary connection for building our new plant count in our Scope 2?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/temporary-construction-power-scope-2

Yes, if the temporary connection is in your name, or you pay the bill and control the site. That electricity is purchased power you consume, so it is Scope 2 like any other bill. If your EPC contractor holds the connection and pays for it, it falls in your Scope 3 instead.

## The test: whose connection, whose control

- Connection in your company's name, bill paid by you: Scope 2.
- Connection in your name, cost recharged to the contractor: still Scope 2 for you, because you buy and control the supply.
- Connection in the contractor's name and paid by the contractor within its lump-sum price: the contractor's Scope 2, and part of your Scope 3 Category 2, capital goods.

## Capitalising the bill does not move it

Your accountant may add construction-period power to capital work in progress. That is a financial treatment. In your inventory the kWh stays in Scope 2 for the year it was consumed, not spread over the plant's life.

## Diesel on site

DG sets running cranes, welding sets and site lighting before the connection arrives burn diesel. If you buy that diesel, it is Scope 1 at 2.68 kg CO2 per litre. If the contractor buys it, it is Scope 3 for you.

## How to report it

1. Keep the temporary connection bills with the tariff category showing temporary supply.
2. Report the kWh in Scope 2 at the grid factor for the months consumed.
3. Note it in your methodology, because a plant that produces nothing yet will distort any intensity per tonne or per rupee of revenue.
4. When the permanent connection starts, no base year recalculation is needed; it is the same organisation growing.

## Worked example: six months of construction power

- Temporary connection in your name: 18,000 kWh a month for 6 months
- Total: 18,000 x 6 = 1,08,000 kWh
- Scope 2: 1,08,000 x 0.710 = 76,680 kg CO2, about 76.7 t
- Site DG diesel you bought: 2,000 litres x 2.68 = 5,360 kg CO2 in Scope 1

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads a temporary connection bill like any other electricity bill, taking billing period, tariff category, sanctioned load and units, and applies 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh for location-based Scope 2. Site diesel invoices you hold are read at 2.68 kg CO2 per litre.

- [Manufacturing Scope 2 emissions in India](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/manufacturing-scope-2-emissions-india)
- [Diesel generator: Scope 1 or Scope 2?](https://senseible.earth/answers/diesel-generator-scope-1-or-scope-2)
- [Sub-metered electricity in a rented unit](https://senseible.earth/answers/sub-metered-electricity-rented-unit)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (operational control, Scope 2)](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, Category 2 Capital Goods](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-19.