Managing utility bills within your local authority

Those who think that the only issue local government officers and councillors (particularly new councillors) should be interested in is climate change emergencies need to think again. At the other end of the spectrum to the impacts of global climate change is managing utility bills within each local authority.

Although some will be on top of this issue it is an area which can be complicated in terms of different tariffs, metered and unmetered suppliers, non-commodity charges and taxes for many meters. The loss of staff in the sector has led to under capacity in many offices and often utility bill validation can be seen as one of those jobs that gets left. After all, shouldn’t the supplier be charging you accurately? The average error rate for utility bills is 3% and as refunds can be claimed on erroneous bills for the previous 6 years, there may be a significant sum to claim.

This is just one example of how energy is a topic stretching across everything a council does and that it deserves just as much attention as front line services. Whether it is the electrification of your fleet, insulating houses, monitoring air quality, cutting energy bills in the leisure centre, planting more trees, increasing recycling rates or your humble energy bill, it is vital to keep an eye on everything energy.