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press
office: press releases
every little helps
10/04/2008
Street lighting is an important aspect of modern life. Bright streets reduce the fear of crime, encourage use of public transport, walking and cycling, help to create vibrant town and city centres and increase road safety. But at what cost?
Not only have energy costs increased dramatically in recent times but climate change and the need to reduce CO2 emissions is coming to the forefront of everyone’s mind.
Energy efficiency will be the major contributor to reducing CO2 emissions. Individuals can personally contribute in a small way by, for example, not leaving the TV on standby, switching off lights that are not being used and increasing levels of insulation in the home. However, the public sector has a massive contribution to make, not only at the policy and legislative level but also in reducing its own energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency.
Street lighting is a very visible example of public sector energy usage but switching the lights off or delaying turning them on may not be a viable option. Buckinghamshire County Council has recently embarked on a 3 year trial of switching off street lights in some rural parts of the region. Cost savings will be weighed against the benefits foregone from switching off the lights.
The standard approach in PFI contracts is to agree a level of electricity usage for which the service provider will be responsible, with the cost being picked up by the authority. If usage is less than anticipated then the savings are shared. If the usage exceeds the agreed level by a certain percentage then the service provider pays for the additional usage. This is a powerful incentive on the service provider to ensure that lights are properly maintained, are switched on and off at appropriate times and that energy efficient components are used. The introduction of the carbon reduction commitment from 2010 will add further energy efficiency incentives.
Agreeing historical usage can be difficult. Not only do the asset registers of authorities tend not to be accurate but the electricity supply to public street lights is unmetered and so there are no real figures on which to base an agreement. The authority and the service provider must agree an allocation on the basis of what is known about the equipment at the time the contract is entered into and the increased efficiencies that will come from the asset replacement programme and ongoing maintenance.
Not only does the unmetered nature of the supply mean that the authority itself cannot easily take steps to measure a reduction in its energy usage, it means that it is as difficult to drive energy savings through the PFI contract.
Public street lighting is exempt from the standard requirement that where a customer is to be charged by reference to the quantity of electricity supplied it must be through an “appropriate” meter, which is one having a visual display. The cost of attaching “appropriate meters” to street lights would be prohibitive. However, Ofgem has recently published a consultation document on the installation of remote central management systems (CMS) for street lights, particularly such systems which contain measuring devices. At its most simple, CMS will allow for the dimming of street lights which will lead to energy savings compared with the on/off options currently available. Installation of CMS with a measuring device will enable accurate billing and realistic efficiency targets to be set.
Public lighting accounts for the vast majority of unmetered electricity supply but only 1.2% of total electricity demand in the UK is unmetered. A saving is not going to go a long way to reducing CO2 emissions. However, every little will help in meeting our carbon reduction commitments and, with the introduction of CMS and more energy efficient components, which are becoming readily available, public street lighting can make a contribution without significant diminution in the benefits it brings.
For further information please contact Catherine Burke on
catherine.burke@martjohn.com
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