Energy Issues

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Energy Issues InitiativesPresented by Helen
WestwoodTuesday 2 June 2009
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Energy Issues Initiatives

• Energy Costs
• Reducing Energy Costs
• Croydon Contracts
• Carbon Reduction Commitment
• Investment Funding Schemes
• Summary
• Contacts

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Energy Costs

• The reduction of Carbon Emissions is one of the
  Councils priorities
• Utility prices have increased steeply over recent
  years and it remains
• a very volatile market. Oil, gas and
  coal are all finite resources.
• It is an environmental issue but it also has huge
  financial implications
• Croydon Council currently spends approximately
  7M on utilities across
• its property portfolio and this is set
  to increase.

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Reducing Energy Costs

• Change your utility contract. Have you got the
  best rates?
• Take regular meter readings, pay for actual
  energy used not estimated.
• Think about energy efficiency when replacing
  equipment.
• Invest to save - condensing boilers, insulation,
  energy efficient lighting and automatic controls
  and draught-proofing.
• Raising awareness encourage an energy saving
  culture.
• A desktop computer with LCD screen uses 129 W/h
  in use, it still uses 53 W/h on standby. Switch
  it off!

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Croydon Contracts

• Croydon currently has 4 main energy contracts ,
  two gas and two electricity. These are fixed
  rate, fixed term contracts.
• We are in the process of aligning the contract
  end dates so we can combine the demand and let as
  one large contract economies of scale
• The London Energy Project, a centrally funded
  Government initiative, has developed an approved
  Consortia Procurement Framework which aggregates
  the energy requirements of London Boroughs and
  purchases utility supplies via flexible
  risk-managed contracts. This framework is
  recommended for use within the public sector by
  the Office of Government Commerces pan
  government energy project.
• The London Energy Project reported in May 2009,
  that over the past 3 years flexible versus fixed
  price contracts have delivered a 4.7 cost
  reduction and a further 4 savings are achieved
  through aggregation of demand, resulting from
  larger volumes, long-term arrangements with
  suppliers, reduced cost to serve and supplier
  margins, and removal of the price-risk premium
  applied to fixed-term fixed-price contracts.

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Carbon Reduction Commitment
The Governments Carbon Reduction Commitment is
new legislation which will come into force in
April 2010. It is intended to drive efficiency in
both the private and public sectors, including
local authorities. It will affect a number of
large organisations whose energy consumption is
above a certain threshold, Croydon Council is one
of these All of the Councils carbon emissions
from stationary sources will be scrutinised.
Street lighting and the property portfolio across
the whole Borough will be looked at, including
SCHOOLS (Academies, City Technology Colleges and
maintained schools) Under the scheme, carbon
credits are bought to offset carbon emissions.
Initially these will be at 12 per ton of
CO2 The organisations will then be rated and put
in a league table where there will be a pain/gain
arrangement based upon performance. If the Local
Authority is towards the top of the table and
performed better than the benchmark then there
will be a financial reward and any surplus carbon
credits can be sold. If, however, the Council
underperforms there will be a fine and any
shortfall in carbon credits will need to be
purchased on the secondary market.
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Carbon Reduction Commitment cont
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Investment Funding Schemes

• LAEF Fund - the Councils Local Authority Energy
  Finance (LAEF) scheme is managed by the
  Environment Sustainability Team.
• LAEF is a specialised loan fund available to
  schools wanting to improve the energy efficiency
  of their building and save money on fuel bills.
  The fund is designed specifically to sidestep the
  financial and administrative burden that can
  often act as a barrier to doing this type of work
  in schools.
• Repayments from the school to the Council are
  interest-free, over a period of 1-5 years and no
  more than the energy saved. Once the loan is
  repaid all further savings are kept by the
  school.
• The Council are currently investigating other
  cashflow neutral funding opportunities with a
  10-15 year payback period, via energy performance
  contracts.
• The longer payback period enables much greater
  investment and large scale projects to be
  undertaken, concentrating on the energy
  efficiency of the whole building rather than
  small areas.

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What the Council is doing?
In Summary

• Improving the way we buy energy. Cost effective.
• Trying to eliminate estimated bills. Offering a
  framework for self meter reads.
• Developing a monthly report detailing all the
  bills processed so end users can track usage and
  costs prior to receiving recharges.
• Looking for further funding opportunities to
  enable investment in energy efficiency measures.
• Preparing for the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
• Raising awareness.

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What can you do?

• Prepare for the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
  There are budget and data collection
  requirements.
• Take regular meter readings and email them in to
  the Energy Management Team (and to your supplier
  if you are not in a Croydon Contract).
• Consider using Croydon Councils utility supply
  contracts.
• Consider options open to your school, whether its
  investment through the LAEF scheme or an
  awareness campaign.
• Other school specific initiatives, such as
  www.jointhepod.org
• Switch it off! The cheapest kWh is the one that
  isnt used.

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Contacts
For more information on LAEF and to discuss the
other solutions that are available to combat
rising energy costs at your school, please
contact Will Walker Energy Environment
Officer 020 8760 5768 ext.62450 or
will.walker_at_croydon.gov.uk
For more information on meter reading or to
supply reads, please contact The Energy
Management Team 0208 726 6000 ext 62368 or
energyteam.lbofcroydon_at_interserve.com
For any other energy or utility queries, please
contact Helen Westwood Facilities Manager -
Utilities 0208 726 6000 ext 62548 or
helen.westwood_at_croydon.gov.uk