Energy Auditing

Getting to the point on reducing energy usage and costs

STC Energy discusses how they have helped Millennium Point save over £155k in just one year with a historic billing audit, procurement savings and capacity reduction

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pened in 2001, Millennium Point is an iconic and impactful building, which enables its visitors to explore ideas, science, education, technology and the arts. The building has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of a large brownfield site that has seen further development over the last 15 years – forming Birmingham City’s Knowledge Quarter. Millennium Point is owned by the charity Millennium Point Trust and is managed by its operational division Millennium Point Property Limited. It acts as a landlord to a number of prestigious organisations, and is one of the city’s best-known meeting places, hosting a number of activities which make a meaningful difference to local lives. Millennium Point is a bustling hive of activity welcoming over one million visitors each year and is home to a number of faculties such as Birmingham City University, schools of Birmingham Metropolitan College and the Thinktank (the city’s science museum). Millennium Point’s work, focusing on S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and

Mathematics) themes, allows visitors to explore the world around them.

Background Consuming around 7GWh (7 million kWh’s) of electricity per annum, Millennium Point wanted to start looking at ways of reducing their energy costs. Since the buildings opening in 2001, minimal action had been taken to analyse its energy usage. After also discovering that no validation of their utility bills had ever been carried out for a number of years, Millennium Point wanted to ensure they had been paying the correct amount for their electricity, gas and water.

Solution STC Energy offered to undertake an audit of historic utility billing and an analysis of the energy consumption at the site. Copies of energy contracts and historic invoices were requested from their utility suppliers going back as far as possible. This data, along with 30 minute profile data for their half hourly (HH) supply, was imported into STC’s energy

management and validation software ready to be analysed and maximum demand levels checked.

Results Bill Validation Millennium Point had already secured a green energy electricity contract that included a green premium in the unit rate, meaning CCL should have been excluded. STC validated the electricity invoices dating back to the start of the contract. They immediately noticed that CCL charges had been added to the account from March 2015 and were still being billed accordingly. On 8th July 2015, the UK government budget statement stipulated that CCL exemptions for renewable energy were to be removed from 1st August 2015 onwards. As a result, CCL charges should not have been applied from March 2015 to July 2015, and from August 2015 the green premium should have been removed from the unit rate and CCL charges should have been implemented. Instead the supplier had just added CCL charges to the account