Islington Council set to join energy-buying group in bid to get cheaper prices

Islington Town Hall. Photograph: Islington Citizen

Town Hall bosses have agreed for the council to join an energy-purchasing group in a bid to get a better price.

It comes as the council’s energy costs are estimated to go up by £30m in just one year.

The council hopes to sign a deal with a public buying group which managed to buy most of its energy supply cheaper than the current market rate.

The biggest predicted increase is in housing, which could see a £16m jump in costs from £4m to £21m.

The bill for schools is likely to soar from £1.5m to £6.5m, and the costs for leisure centres could increase from £703,000 last year to £2.8m.

The Town Hall’s executive agreed to the move as an urgent decision at its meeting yesterday to cut its exposure to further increases and “minimise the impact on our residents”.

People across the UK have been warned to brace themselves for very high increases in their energy costs, which have ramped up partly because of the war in Ukraine.

The council’s energy cost has soared from £8.8m last year to £39.3m this financial year.

Executive member  for environment and transport Rowena Champion said: “It’s going to be an extremely difficult time.”

If the council cannot join the buying group, it would start to buy energy in advance, meaning it would have to increase its buying threshold to an estimated £64m, possibly rising to £80m.

Residents who pay for communal electricity have already seen an increase in their bills this year, with the cost is expected to rise by 49 per cent.

A Town Hall report said further “unprecedented price increases” meant there was a £3.6m shortfall – or £189 for each of the 19,500 homes.

The council plans to recover the extra money over the next two years.

Cllr Caroline Russell (Green) asked if there were ways to reduce the communal heating bill in council homes.

She said: ” People are already worried about paying their energy bills. For the communal heating residents, it looks like it’s a really scary situation.”

Cllr Rowena Champion said the housing team is “doing everything they can to try mitigate the impact and look at how buildings function and across the council to reduce energy”.

Una O’ Halloran, who has responsibility for homes, said the council is contacting residents and “we’ve got a really good record where people are in debt”.

Chief executive Linzi Roberts-Egan said more details will emerge over the coming weeks as to how to reduce costs in council buildings, and that the council “is working very hard to consider all the impacts on individual households”.

She added: “The council has always prioritised supporting the most vulnerable individuals and families in terms of debt recovery and we continue to do so where applicable.”