Soaring fuel costs spark debate in Islington as council looks to reduce its energy bills

Islington Town Hall. Photograph: Islington Citizen

Insulating buildings, putting lights on timers, and looking at wasted energy are all on the agenda as Islington Council aims to cut its energy bills.

The measures came under the spotlight at an audit commitee during which officers raised concerns over rocketing fuel costs.

Prices starting going up in April 2021, with “significant volatility” from September, which meant the council could not wait for them to fall before buying fuel.

The borough’s top politicians recently rubber-stamped plans for the council to join a public buying group to get a better price.

It comes as costs for council buildings, houses, schools, leisure centres and street lights are predicted to soar from £8.8m this year to £39m next year.

The Town Hall agreed an energy supply contract with SSE for 2020-24 which allowed it to buy fuel via trades when it chose to.

During the first two years of the contract, it got gas 20 per cent cheaper than it would have from other providers – electricity was around 10 per cent cheaper.

Audit committee chair Nick Wayne said he was concerned that schools or leisure centres might need to ask for help to pay their fuel bills in the future.

Director of finance Paul Clarke said: “I do not see a nightmare scenario.”

Leisure centre provider GLL pays a large part of its energy costs and is monitoring those closely, he said.

GLL has already trimmed energy use by 20 per cent and had been enjoying a post-Covid bounce.

Keith Townsend, Islington’s head of environmental services, said: “We need to have a clear picture of what the financial risk is.”

Clarke pointed out that the borough’s schools faced “a challenging financial situation before the energy crisis”.

Many of them are facing falling school rolls which leaves them competing for “too few children” to fill the places.

He said children’s services are working on a strategy to see “how schools will be sustainable in the longer term”.

The committee also discussed measures such as controlling the use of lights in council buildings.

The Town Hall is also looking at “reconsidering council building operational hours”, cutting energy consumption in plant rooms, replacing street lighting with more energy efficient lights, and cutting the use of gas in communal boiler plantrooms in the council’s housing estates.