By Harvey Sinclair, eEnergy CEO
Following years of budget cuts and the stresses of Covid-19, energy costs are pushing many public sector organisations to the brink. With the country in a state of limbo, the daunting prospect of gas and electricity prices potentially doubling again this winter has left budgets impossibly tight.
Some schools are already reducing teaching hours or considering letting staff go, while many hospitals have seen energy costs soar to become their highest expenditure this year.
Yet, despite growing calls for a nationwide government bailout scheme, most cannot and should not wait to see what meaningful action the new prime minister takes if any. Time is of the essence, and we believe the solution is ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ (EaaS).
Despite ballooning prices, most buildings in the UK still waste 30% of their energy which needlessly strains budgets and threatens our Net Zero commitments. EaaS allows organisations to significantly reduce their energy consumption virtually overnight, without any upfront capital costs.
eEnergy manages 4.5 terawatt hours of energy for 2,500 organisations throughout the UK, half of which are public sector organisations. Having been established as one of the very first ‘Light-as-a-Service’ businesses more than a decade ago, we now provide a breadth of Net Zero services, including energy procurement, on-site solar generation, EV chargers, and in-building energy analytics that visualise energy waste. Several NHS trusts who we already work with are up to £12 million better off this year than they would have been, had they remained on the traditional frameworks for the same period.
With energy prices at record levels, knowing how and where energy is being used is key. Without data to highlight energy waste, it’s very difficult to reduce spending. Introducing our in-building energy analytics platform, MY ZeERO, has allowed organisations of all sizes – from primary schools to waste disposal plants – to break an energy bill down into simple items and better understand where energy waste occurs. Equipped with this data, we have already invested £50 million in energy efficiency projects throughout the UK, creating immediate savings in cash and carbon for our clients.
There are now several new entrants in this space serving the public sector, with a burgeoning market helping to reduce the historical reliance on the big lumbering energy groups. It is a tried and tested model; people just don’t know about it yet.
The EaaS model enables organisations of all kinds to make proactive decisions to reduce energy waste immediately, without needing to rely on support from the government or their capital. Most can easily reduce total spending by 50% where the operators can retain 1/3 of the savings for free without the need for capital investment. That, combined with on-site generation through a PPA, can deliver typically a 30% reduction against grid energy.
All this positive action could be well underway within weeks of the new prime minister walking through the famous black door. This matters because, despite its best intentions, the government cannot afford a nationwide bailout, and it doesn’t need to, as private sector partners are ready to offer zero capital solutions that could save the public sector money from day one. It’s not right that the current patchwork of regulations allows some to benefit from EaaS, while others are locked into outdated and cripplingly expensive energy contracts.
With prices skyrocketing, urgent solutions are required. If the new prime minister is serious about the energy crisis, they should immediately reduce red tape for the public sector, making it easier for readily available commercial finance to help address the UK’s two greatest challenges – energy costs and climate change. https://eenergyplc.com/
