The cost of keeping the lights on in Kildare to rise by €2m
Kildare County Council will have to pay an increased electricity costs of €2m - principally the cost of the county’s approximately 28,000 public lights.
The Office of Government Procurement, which helps the State to save money when sourcing goods and services for the public sector, is predicting a 250% rise under a metered contract, starting this month.
This translates as a year on year jump of €2m in the cost of the metered supply.
The current pricing of the metered electricity contract was in place until the end of September and while efforts are still being made by the OGP to introduce fixed prices for the remainder of the contract, this has not been possible yet “due to the continued deterioration of the market”. A flexible daily price will apply from the start of October until a fixed price can be put in place.
Councillors at a KCC meeting were told that the unmetered electricity contract (which constitutes the majority of Kildare’s public lights) is fixed until mid-2023.
In a report to the meeting KCC official Joe Boland said the current supplier is indicating that “they will pull out of this contract if there isn’t some flexing of prices by January” (and) the OGP is suggesting that this could be as much as a 100% increase in costs.
He also said energy efficiency of council buildings and other areas of energy usage are reviewed on a continuous basis.
He added the council takes a proactive approach, “particularly in our buildings, in order to minimise wastage wherever possible and use of technology now plays a key part in this.”
KCC, he said, achieved a reduction of 33% by 2020 on the council’s 2009 baseline, which met the public sector target.
He said KCC had made good progress but “a lot more ambition is needed.”
He was responding to a call from Cllr Vanessa Liston for energy use to be optimised without waste across “all of the council and its operations.”
She also said that this should be monitored “for continuous improvement” and she told the meeting that some council lights are turned on at 5am.
Cllr Bill Clear said the council should seek extra finance to pay the increased bills.
Cllr Peter Hamilton said that while the lights at Aras Chill Dara are energy efficient, “we need visual leadership.”
He also called for the installation of more LED public lighting, which costs less and is more effective.
A programme to put in LED lighting will start with a survey starting in March and running until June though work is not likely to start until 2024.
Referring to lights at Aras Chill Dara, KCC official Annette Aspell said people are still there when the lights are on.
“It’s not a nine to five operation (but) we’re open to improving efficiencies at the building,” added Ms Aspell.