Agenda item

To consider the report of the Leader of the Council informing Members of the Council’s energy costs and projects to reduce energy usage.

39.1    The Leader of the Council introduced the report and explained that the purpose was to inform Members of the Council’s energy costs and projects to reduce usage. He confirmed that the City Council had adopted a revised Energy Management Strategy back in 2012, and one of the objectives of this strategy included a commitment to reduce the Council’s energy costs across its buildings by 2% a year, along with a  yearly monitoring commitment and an annual report. The Leader of the Council confirmed that the Council owned a large number of buildings which used significant amount of gas and electricity; however the Council had committed to reducing its annual spend on energy by £50,000 per year.

39.2    The Leader of the Council confirmed that the 2021 energy costs had not yet been finalised, however the Council was shielded by a 12-month price cap. He clarified that energy saving projects were being targeted towards buildings with a higher energy consumption, such as a lighting placement scheme at Oxstalls Tennis Centre and replacement of incandescent lights with LED lights at North Warehouse and the Guildhall. The Leader of the Council also confirmed that the move to a pool fleet had reduced the Council’s carbon output.

39.3    In response to a question from Councillor Organ regarding the issuing of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), the Property Commissioning Manager confirmed that EPCs had to be undertaken for every building let or owned by the Council, and action had to be taken where the rating fell below E. She confirmed that colleagues were working their way through all higher risk premises, and noted by way of example that changing the lightbulbs at Tuffley Park to LED had changed the rating from E to B, and therefore simple changes could have significant and positive results.

39.4    The Leader of the Council further commented that the CLS Consultancy report referred to at 4.2 set out detailed recommendations for the property team, who were in the process of picking target sites, one of which was the depot. The Property Commissioning Manager confirmed that the City Council’s Senior Building Works Surveyor would be visiting the depot next week to evaluate what changes could be made to optimise fuel and energy savings.

39.5    Referring to the significant drop in gas and electricity use in 2020 due to the pandemic, Councillor Hilton noted that there could be a spike in energy consumption after the pandemic and asked how the Council was monitoring any increased energy use and what it was doing to promote the use of renewable sources. The Leader of the Council confirmed that the Council already secured all electric energy from renewable sources but at the moment, this was not possible to do with gas. He stated that he would question whether the 2021 figures would show any significant spike given that large numbers of employees were still working from home.

39.6    The Property and Commissioning Manager further added where possible, the Council would look to replace gas use with more renewable sources and there were a number of energy saving schemes under way, such as the installation of Solar PVs at Plock Court.

39.7    In response to a question from the Chair regarding which premises consumed the most energy, the Property and Commissioning Manager confirmed that HKP and GL1 Leisure Centres were historically large consumers, however the figures may not go back to pre-pandemic levels.

39.9    In response to a further question from the Chair concerning the increased energy bills for staff working from home, the Property and Commissioning Manager confirmed that the Council hoped to bring staff on the journey and that it was good practice for the Council to share information amongst staff. The Property Commissioning Manager suggested that some may make changes to their home such as installing Solar PVs. She noted that there were home energy efficiency grants available from Government, and if any information came through regarding new grants, this would be fed through to staff.

39.10  Councillor Dee referred to the Climate Change Strategy in Appendix 1 which noted that the GL1 Leisure Centre was a significant gas consumer and asked whether it would be difficult to make savings in this area. The Leader of the Council confirmed that the easiest way to heat the large volume of water at GL1 was through using gas and that converting the energy use to solar panels would be very costly for the Council.

39.11  Councillor Wilson asked whether the combined heat and power engine at GL1 Leisure Centre was still in operation. The Property Commissioning Manager agreed to double check and provide this information in due course.

39.12  Councillor Lewis asked for the Leader of the Council’s comments on how the authority could encourage the public and businesses to lower their energy costs. The Leader of the Council noted that the report had provided lots of examples as to how the City Council had saved money on energy costs and was setting a good example to local people and businesses. He confirmed that the City Plan had not yet been finalised, but consideration was being given to additional electric car charging points. He referred to his own experiences of installing solar panels for environmental reasons, however noted that to require solar panels as an obligation at planning permission level was something to be looked at Government level. Councillor Organ expressed the view that the Council had to be mindful of telling people what to do with their houses as this could have an impact on their house sale prices and underwriting issues.

39.13  In response to a question from Councillor S. Chambers regarding whether the Council considered whether organisations and businesses had green credentials before going into tender pacts, the Property Commissioning Manager confirmed that the Council would always look at the green credentials of possible tender partners.

39.14  Councillor Durdey referred to the data at 3.7 concerning Carbon Dioxide emissions and the pie char illustrating the split of fuel use in 2018 and asked whether more up-to-date figures were available. The Property Commissioning manager confirmed that the data from the CLS report was not yet available, however this data would be made available once ready.

            RESOLVED – That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee NOTE the report.