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Nottingham City Council (NCC) has become the UK’s second local authority to receive a self-supply licence, after Blackpool Council.
From 14 August, NCC will begin supplying its own buildings in a move which, the council claims, will save it an estimated £64,000 a year.
Under the new deal NCC will purchase water directly from the wholesaler Severn Trent Water in order to manage its own water payments.
In 2015 NCC launched Robin Hood Energy which became the first council-owned energy firm.
It has provided white label tariffs to a number of other council-owned suppliers to market under their own branding, including White Rose Energy in Leeds, Lecyy in Liverpool, Ram Energy in Derby, Angelic Energy in London and Great North Energy in Doncaster.
NCC deputy leader, councillor Sally Longford, said: “Becoming a water self-supplier is an exciting next step for us as we seek to further reduce costs through innovative resource efficiency across our own estate.
“As a large consumer of water, we are looking forward to having more control over this vital resource and will be looking for ways to use water more efficiently to lower costs and improve our environmental performance.
“We can streamline the service, cut out the margin that goes to others in the supply chain and plough the savings back into further resource efficiency projects.”
Wayne Bexton, head of energy services at NCC, said: “The development of Nottingham City Council’s water self-supply license provides a fantastic opportunity to broaden and strengthen our experience in the energy sector; making business and financial sense.
“The team have been working hard on this project for a number of months, ensuring that we have everything in place to make this initiative a success. We are extremely proud to be the first council who will run its own water service in-house.
“The reduction of operating costs for the council, allows us to share the benefits with our citizens by investing in further innovative projects to better our services. The move also supports our wider ambition of becoming a carbon neutral city by 2028.”
Last week Green Party councilors at Brighton and Hove Council called upon the authority to apply for a self-supply licence.
Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty said: “With news that Southern Water has been fined a record £126 million for wastewater and sewerage spills, as well as deliberately misinterpreting performance, it’s clear that water privatisation has failed us and our environment. Greens will continue to fight for an end to water privatisation – and while that fight goes on, we want to see residents given the democratic oversight over water they deserve.
“Exploring the option to ‘self-supply’ water would allow the council to directly buy water services – cutting out the water companies and their profit margins.
“On top of lowering bills, the city’s water supply would be brought under direct democratic oversight – including wastewater management, giving us the opportunity to do more for our environment. Crucially, councils who opt to “self-supply” are also given a say in how water is managed nationwide.
“We are pushing for Brighton and Hove to become the latest council to challenge how water supply is owned and run– for the good of our residents and environment.”
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