DfE launches energy 'price comparison' website for schools

The Department for Education has launched an energy 'price comparison' site to help schools get the best deals.

Launched by the Education Secretary Damian Hinds, the site allows schools to get instant quotes from a range of gas and electricity firms and will help schools avoid fees charged by energy brokers.

The latest figures from 2016/17 show state-funded schools in England spent more than £584 million on gas and electricity. The average secondary school spends around £90,000 a year on energy. Using the Department for Education’s existing energy deals, schools have already reported savings of up to 14% – the price comparison website will help build on this.

Due to the complexity of schools’ energy needs, many currently have to go through brokers, which can incur high fees. These can be as much as 5p per kilowatt hour – which can add up to thousands of pounds per year. The new website will allow schools to bypass brokers’ fees and deal directly with suppliers, inputting information about their energy use to generate tailored, transparent quotes, which they can then compare.

It will also list providers offering renewable energy, giving schools a simple way to reduce their environmental impact.