Meeting documents

Recommendation

Progress

1

To develop the ongoing scrutiny of the "One Council" Energy Policy and Strategy and associated opportunities for monetary savings and investment returns, with a formal reporting mechanism to Members.

From August 2015 onwards, the Cabinet Member for Community and Environmental Services will sit on the Environmental Performance Board and will attend meetings of the Place Scrutiny Committee in regular intervals in the future to update on progress.

An Environmental Performance Management Group will commence which reports to the Environmental Performance Board which will oversee operational issues.

2

3

To collect accurate energy consumption data across the corporate estate and to record the data so that it relates to the size of the estate.

and

To implement an energy management system across the corporate and schools estates to measure and monitor the consumption of all utilities, i.e. gas, water and electricity, in order to manage and reduce the County Council's energy consumption and financial expenditure.

As the size of the retained estate was emerging in line with the Estates Strategy for Devon County Council 2012-2017, energy management can now be planned effectively. The Council's energy consumption had already significantly decreased due to the disposal of assets.

Devon County Council purchases energy through a collaborative contract with other public sector partners to achieve economies of scale. The contract is competitively tendered for at least every seven years and the LASER Energy Buying Group will supply the Council's and some schools' electricity and gas from April 2016 onwards.

The contract will install further automatic meter reading (AMR) technology to achieve AMR on all gas and electricity meters. In addition an Energy Bureau Service which will have the facility to compare consumption with industry benchmarks for similar building types and uses. . This tool will enable the identification of good performing and poor performing corporate buildings. The system will also have the capability of monitoring water consumption.

Members noted that the County Council has no control over the schools' management of energy consumption and/or generation. However the new Laser contract will install AMR in all schools using the corporate energy contract meaning that schools will receive accurate billing.

4

To develop a clear and concise renewable energy strategy, identifying a prioritised list of suitable sites across the corporate estate, based on evidence of current energy consumption levels and projected return rates from individual sites.

The appointment of a two-year fixed-term Corporate Energy Manager is expected in the autumn 2015 who will

1. establish a cost-effective corporate energy management function, which will include overseeing the installation of AMR in 2016 and establishing the Laser Bureau Service as key tools in the identification of further energy efficiency projects.

2. prepare a Renewable Energy Strategy

5

6

To work towards replicating the Okehampton model across the schools estate and explore measures by which this might be achieved, including utilising the knowledge, skills and expertise at Okehampton College.

and

Following an evaluation of the pilot installations, identify how to accelerate the rate of retrofitting schools with energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in combination with Recommendations 3 and 4.

Devon County Council is piloting the RE:FIT schools energy efficiency programme with 18 schools, funded through a 1m loan fund offered to the pilot schools by DCC. Procurement of the preferred installation partner concludes in September 2015.

It is hoped that participating schools will showcase the programme's success and more schools will participate in the future.

7

To review the County Council's approaches to borrowing and investing capital reserves when presented with low risk, high return investment opportunities such as energy efficiency projects and renewable energy.

The County Council's approaches to borrowing and investing capital reserves with regard to renewable energy projects have been reviewed as part of the development of the Energy Policy. The outcome of this review is that current approaches are unlikely to change in the short and medium term.

8

To identify council assets appropriate for community-funded renewable energy projects, develop an approach for offering these for community investment and determine how individual initiatives can be supported.

The Corporate Energy Manager, who will be appointed in the autumn of 2015, will consider opportunities for community investment as part of the development of the Renewable Energy Strategy.

The Planning, Transportation and Environment service is commissioning a review of the range of options which exist for local authorities to engage with community energy initiatives. This will form part of the evidence based used by the Corporate Energy Manager in developing the Renewable Energy Strategy.

Over the past four years DCC has supported community energy groups to pursue community-owned renewable energy projects. DCC's latest support programme in 2014/15 - the Community Energy Accelerator - involved the provision of small, start-up grants to enable local groups to organise themselves to be in a position to apply for DECC's Rural or Urban Community Energy Funds. A further tranche of grant funding will be advertised in September 2015. DCC has also prepared a Community Energy Legal Toolkit to help community energy groups understand good practice in developing community energy projects. This is believed to the first in the UK. Available online at https://new.devon.gov.uk/energyandclimatechange/community-energy-legal-toolkit

The experience of some of the community energy groups engaged on the Accelerator has been captured in a video which highlights the opportunities available to community energy groups as well as the challenges that Devon County Council is helping local communities overcome. The video is available at https://new.devon.gov.uk/energyandclimatechange/community-energy

9

If the use of capital reserves and prudential borrowing continues to be unviable (referring to recommendation 7), the existing outline business case prepared by the Environmental Performance Board for the development of solar PV on redundant landfill sites and park & ride facilities, and wind turbines on County Farms, should be presented to the Investment and Pension Fund Committee.

The Investment and Pensions Fund Committee considered a report on the solar PV energy scheme at their meeting on 27 February 2015 and rejected the proposal on the basis of

- the Pension Fund's duty to provide the best return on investment possible;

- the potential for a conflict of interest if the Pension Fund were to make an investment into local infrastructure;

- the potential risks involved in this type of investment in the long term.

10

If the use of capital reserves and prudential borrowing continues to be unviable (referring to recommendation 7), Devon County Council should enter into a partnership with an expert body in order to produce a business case for investment by the Pension Fund in renewable energy installations across the corporate and schools estate, incorporating community investment.

See above. Investment in DCC renewable energy schemes has been discounted by the Investment and Pensions Fund Committee.