Drive to trim bills

11:28pm Saturday 22nd December 2007

THOUSANDS of pounds a year could be saved from public energy bills, after city chiefs called for a new "smart metering" system at 30 of York's council buildings.

City of York Council's ruling executive has agreed to the move as part of its work on developing an environmental sustainability strategy.

The council's energy champion Coun Christian Vassie said: "A simple measure such as this will, I believe, in no time at all save the council many thousands of pounds a year. It is self-evident that to cut emissions by 25 per cent by 2013, as we are committed to do, we need to quantify exactly how we use energy at present and give staff the tools to be able to change behaviour and reduce energy waste."

Introducing smart metering at 30 buildings will cost £4,172 a year, but the council says the savings will outweigh that.

Smart metering identifies where and when energy is being used, making it far easier for the customer to identify wasted energy and potential savings.

Coun Vassie installed a smart meter in his own home last year, and said it had proved a great success.

He said: "In my home the family has reduced our energy bill by 27 per cent in just one year by better understanding where the money was going."

Earlier this year, The Press reported that a weekend of "direct action" at the council's St Leonard's Place offices had reduced energy use by 17 per cent over the weekend, simply by ensuring electrical equipment was switched off.

Andrew Waller, the council's executive member for neighbourhood services, said a third of York's energy consumption - or "carbon footprint" - was through food.

He said: "This was due to the production, transport, and fuel associated impacts. The more that we can do to encourage locally produced food, the better for all."

He said supermarkets had made meat "unsustainably cheap", harming farmers economically and contributing to unhealthy eating habits.

The executive received a report updating them on the progress towards energy reduction, and proposing various measures that could help the city become more eco-friendly, including reducing car usage; cutting the amount of food that is needlessly bought; and more efficient domestic energy.