The County Councils’ Energy Management Team is responsible for managing and monitoring the corporate fuel supply contracts (supplied via ESPO).

How we buy your electricity and gas:

All sites on the corporate utility supply contracts are tendered, by ESPO, in accordance with EU procurement law. All UK licensed suppliers have the opportunity to submit prices for the contract. The Energy Management Team accepts the most economically advantageous price for the contract in consultation with independent market analysts, John Hall Associates.

To the right, under "Documents", is a link to the ESPO Energy Newsletter that offers further information in relation to the new ESPO buying policy.

If you would like your school to be added to our corporate fuel supply contract, or to check your site is already included, please contact the Energy Management Team.

Are you reading your meters?

Your fuel suppliers are only obliged to read your gas and electricity meters a limited number of times per year. We recommend that you read your meters a minimum of once a month, and where possible on a Friday evening and a Monday morning in order to build up an accurate consumption profile.

Understand your bill:

The amount you pay for electricity may depend on when you use it, and not just how much you use. Using off-peak (night time) electricity through timers and reducing peak demand can save significant amounts of money.

See ‘Sample Bills‘ documents, links to the right.

Half-hourly data:

Sites with a peak load above 100kW are equipped with ‘half-hourly’ primary meters. This means that total consumption is recorded every half hour and this information is automatically retrieved from the meter and passed to the energy supplier. You should ensure that you use this data to identify potential energy savings.

You can check if you have a half-hourly meter by calling your supplier or by looking at your bill.

Look for your MPAN (Meter Point Administration Number) – also known as the ‘supply number’ on your bill. It will look like the diagram below. If the first two numbers in the top left hand box are ‘00’ then you have a half hourly meter. Any other number indicates non-half hourly:

                                                                                                                                  

00

xxx

xxx

xx

xxx

xxxx

xxx

Smart metering is suitable for smaller electricity sites, which currently have non-half-hourly meters. The data provided is similar to that captured by a half-hourly meter e.g. how much energy is used and when it is used, helping to understand energy use and how it can be saved.