WEE News Desk, New Government initiative aiming to cut energy

New Government initiative aiming to cut energy
July 18th 2006

A major new government initiative aims to cut the public sector's energy costs.The initiative is part of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) EfficiencyProgramme, which has been set up to assist the public sector achieve theefficiency gains, set out in Sir Peter Gershon's review

The Energy Efficiency Review(EER) is identifying ways to cutdown unnecessary energyexpenditure over the wholepublic sector, and facilitating morecollaborative working across centralgovernment and the wider public sector.

Ann McMaster, head of the Energy EfficiencyReview, points out, "The major challenge is gettingeveryone involved. The energy community in thepublic sector is considerable and hard data aboutenergy costs and existing initiatives has been difficult tofind, especially for fragmented departments."However, the Energy Efficiency Review has alreadymade significant inroads into awareness ofoverspending, and meeting with all central governmentdepartments, as well as local government contacts,including regional centres of excellence, regionaldevelopment agencies and public buying organisations.

Departments working with the EER are preparingcomprehensive action plans for cutting down energycosts in terms of how they buy energy, the billingprocesses involved and ways to reduce consumption. Inseveral cases, measures to cut energy spending havealready begun.

"Every organisation within the public sector canpotentially save a huge amount of money," continuessays Ms McMaster. "Measures such as eBilling, Billvalidation and energy savings assets, can save hundredsof pounds a year, and there are a great deal of ways tocut down on energy with no cost at all."Asked to sum up the objective of EER, she said, "Ourwork aims to bring together the mass of energyexpertise that exists in the public sector, spread thegood practice that already exists, and achieve energycost reductions as effectively as possible."

Company nameOGC (Office of Government Commerce)AddressRosebery CourtSt Andrew's Business ParkNorwich, NorfolkNR7 0HSYou can contact the Service Desk on:Phone: 0845 000 4 999e-mail: ServiceDesk@ogc.gsi.gov.ukIf you would like further informationon the work of EER, Ann McMastercan be contacted via emailann.mcmaster.ogc.gsi.gov.uk

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