Council bid to beat £79m costs

An energy bill of £79 million could be faced by the county council over the next nine years unless it commits to cutting energy consumption.

If Staffordshire County Council does not introduce drastic measures, it could face the daunting bill as energy prices rise across the board.

While the county's policy pledges to "protect the county for future generations" there is a strong economic force driving its green policies and practical work is now being carried out to address the issue.

It is now monitoring fuel used in its fleet of vehicles and making sure only 'environmentally friendly' vehicles are used by staff with company cars, as well as ensuring all new and existing buildings are energy efficient.

In 2004 there was outrage when the county announced it was to employ an "energy czar" who would earn £30,000 a year ensuring computers and lights were turned off at the end of the working day.

Now, albeit two-and-a-half years later, the county has come up with a computer programme which switches monitors off automatically at 8pm to tackle the problem and cut energy costs.

Jeremy Herbert, of the development services directorate at Staffordshire County Council, said: "The system has only just been introduced, but is working to great effect.

"However much you drum into your staff the importance of saving energy, you will always find that one or two will still leave their monitors on. When you look at the size of the organisation - we employ 32,000 people - even a small proportion can amount to a lot of wasted energy.

"We were criticised for plans to introduce a member of staff who would go around ensuring lights and computers were off so this was a great solution.

"We are also looking at the possibility of introducing sensors to ensure lights are off all night.

"The technology means that all the systems automatically shut down at 8pm. The system also saves work, so nothing is lost.

"It might only save pennies per computer per night, but this really does add up. The computer system is working extremely well, but is no substitute for the goodwill of staff."

By Sally Walmlsey