Since the establishment of this Department in June 2009 and up to the end of December 2009, energy usage and costs on our core estate were as follows:
Amount used (KWh) Costs (£000) Electricity 6,835,697 824.9 Gas 2,055,014 58.2 Note: Costs are inclusive of VAT which is not reclaimable.
During this period, 76.9 per cent. of our energy was generated from renewable sources.
I have approached the chief executives of the Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office and the Intellectual Property Office and they will respond directly to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mason, dated 22 February 2010:
I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 9 February 2010, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills asking about the estimated amount and cost of energy used in the Department and its agencies in each year since it was established and the proportion of the energy used which was generated from renewable sources in each of those years.
Our records on both the amount and cost of energy usage are based on Financial Years. The National Measurement Office was created on 1st April 2009 when the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) merged with the unit in the then Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills which was responsible for the National Measurement System and that unit relocated to the NWML building in Teddington. Therefore we have information only with respect to the NWML building prior to the merger.
Over the five years to April 2009, the amount of energy used by NWML at Teddington, expressed as KWh, was:
Electricity Gas 2004-05 1— 799.277 2005-06 2113,809 763.356 2006-07 674,357 692,751 2007-08 630,412 710.582 2008-09 619,181 744.977 1 No reliable figures available. 2 Part year.
Over the last five years our records indicate that the cost of energy to NWML at Teddington was:
Electricity Gas 2004-05 55,779.38 17,551.23 2005-06 66,796.09 26,730.70 2006-07 10,156.98 23,993.23 2007-08 40,963.17 23,579.51 2008-09 41,396.33 29,409.96
Electricity is supplied via a National Physical Laboratory (NPL) contract. Sub-metering to allow an accurate recharge of electricity costs was introduced in February 2006. The low expenditure figure in 2006-07 reflects the application of ‘credits’ resulting from settlement of a dispute over electricity charges in earlier years.
Gas was supplied and invoiced directly to NWML and that continues to be the case with NMO.
The above costs are inclusive of VAT, any standing charges and climate change levy applied to the invoices.
Under the NPL electricity contract 5 per cent. of the energy is generated from renewable sources.
Letter from Gareth Jones:
I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 9 February 2010, UIN 317238, to the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
From June to December 2009, the last month for which figures are available, Companies House has consumed the following amounts of energy:
Amount (kwh) Cost (£) Electricity 4,055,664 481,563 Gas 845,403 28,708
Companies House procures green electricity which supports electricity generated from renewable sources under the Government’s climate change levy exemption scheme.
Letter from John Alty, dated 16 February 2010:
I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 09 February 2010, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Energy usage by the Intellectual Property Office is as follows:
a) 2,800,817 kwh, at a cost of b) £234,000.
This usage was between 1st June 2009 (date of establishment of BIS was 5th June 2009) and 31st December 2009. None of the energy used during this period was from renewable sources.
These figures are a total of the electricity and gas used at the IPO’s Concept House and Nine Mile Point sites in South Wales. They exclude the IPO’s Bloomsbury Street offices in London where the IPO is billed as part of a maintenance charge.
Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 17 February 2010:
The Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to you directly in respect of your question (2009/1312) asking what was the estimated amount and cost of energy used, and what proportion of that energy was generated from renewable sources, for each year since The Insolvency Service was established.
Following guidance issued to Departments about this question, the table below gives information for the last five years. We are unable to provide data before that time.
Renewable (Kwh) Electricity (Kwh) Electricity cost (£) Gas Kwh Gas cost (£) 2004-05 — 2,722,806 228,935 610,187 15,886 2005-06 — 2,777,875 330,981 565,826 18,952 2006-07 — 2,770,868 435,769 389,574 29,172 2007-08 — 2,892,755 453,676 471,518 43,314 2008-09 1-6,172 2,336,081 611,936 659,159 12,591 1 The figure for renewable energy derives from a photovoltaic roof at our largest building.
Prior to the current year, The Insolvency Service was tied to contracts that did not include the supply of energy from renewable sources. We have now entered into a contract for our largest office which will include 10 per cent. renewable energy for the first year of the contract, with incremental increases thereafter. It is our intention to add further offices to this contract when other existing leases come to an end. It should also be noted that the data supplied in the table above applies to those buildings (approximately 25 per cent. of the estate) where we are billed for energy directly. Those offices where utilities are met through the landlord’s service charge are not included.