Police Authority Enforce Monitoring And Targeting To Tackle Mounting Energy Usage

South Yorkshire Police possess 135 sites ranging from 15m2 section stations to 9,000m2 District Headquarter buildings. Together, these sites generate an annual energy bill of £1,000,000.

Energy Management Officer, Alan Dodson, is responsible for purchasing energy, ensuring the best use of energy and promoting energy awareness throughout South Yorkshire Police.

In 1993, South Yorkshire Police reviewed their existing energy policy and decided that their energy consumption levels should be more closely monitored and that a provision for setting consumption targets was needed. To meet these requirements, TEAM Energy Accounting software was duly purchased.

South Yorkshire Police and TEAM

Today, TEAM Energy Accounting software plays an important role in South Yorkshire Police’s energy management programme as it is relied on to provide vital energy consumption information. Amongst the features offered by the program, those which Alan Dodson finds of most benefit to his organisation include:

• The ability to trend consumption and to reveal any significant variances.
• The ability to adjust for weather on heating fuels.
• The ability to target against energy budgets.
• The ability to provide evidence of savings through Cusum analysis.
• The ability to produce departmental reports as required under their energy management policy.

TEAM Energy Accounting software is currently being used to monitor all their gas, electricity, oil, coal, propane and water consumption.

South Yorkshire Police did at one time experience a 12-month period without an Energy Manager and it was during this period that they chose to change gas supplier. However, their original gas supplier continued to charge them along with the new gas supplier who too was charging for the supply of gas to the same site. Their Accounts system was unable to flag up that this was happening and consequently both suppliers were being paid. This went unnoticed until the new Energy Manager started entering consumption data into the TEAM Energy Accounting system and the discrepancy became evident. The result was a refund amounting to £23,000.

TEAM Energy Accounting software was also instrumental in revealing that at one small station, the quarterly water bill was in fact 10 times higher than normal. The station was informed and leak detection put into place. Although no leaks were found, it was discovered that work that had previously been carried out on the urinals was causing them to flush every 10 minutes. Moreover, it was revealed that several local police cars were being washed on a regular basis at this particular station. The unusually high water usage was hence accounted for and remedial actions implemented which included fitting a water control system for the urinals.

“TEAM Energy Accounting software has been invaluable through the Normalised Performance Indicators module in proving the benefits of introducing our awareness programme, which includes induction talks, awareness presentations, training workshops, etc. It also equips me with market information to forecast energy budget requirements” Alan Dodson, Energy Management Officer.

The Future

As Environmental issues gain impetus, Alan Dodson is planning to focus more on controlling and reducing pollution levels. The TEAM Environmental module will be used to help him achieve this. The TEAM Environmental Module will allow Alan Dodson to produce simple reports detailing the level of greenhouse emissions generated by South Yorkshire Police and, will highlight any significant sources of emissions. Equipped with this information, Alan Dodson will be able to set reduction targets and implement measures to successfully meet these targets.

Now that South Yorkshire Police have established an effective energy management programme, they are hoping to soon receive an Energy Efficiency Accreditation award.

About TEAM

TEAM is the leading supplier of utility management software and services in the UK providing solutions across a number of sectors. With expertise in Energy Management, software, bureau and consultancy services, TEAM is the perfect utility management partner.