In winter of 1992, a call went out to all electricity consumers to cut their power as much as possible as there was a national shortage of power. The City Council reduced, cut and spread the electrical load as much as they could and, come year end, found that the simple measures that were taken had saved the City Council, and the ratepayers, a million dollars.
These results astounded the councillors of the time. So while little had needed to change, the results were so rewarding! A decision was then taken to employ a specialist to manage the energy consumption of the City Council facilities so that energy costs might remain as low as possible.
The Council’s facilities that require energy for their operation are diverse and include fresh water and waste water pumping stations, swimming pools and recreation centres, libraries, street lights and traffic lights, the art gallery, car parking buildings, parks and botanic gardens, office and service centre buildings, and the waste water treatment plant.
We believe that the Christchurch City Council and its employees should be very proud of the fact that, in spite of significant increases in energy prices over the time, the City Council has managed to keep the costs of energy (in dollars per household) at the same level as they were in 1992.
Another significant achievement is that 50% of all energy consumed by the Council's operations now comes from local renewable energy sources.
Energy Cities is the European Association of local authorities inventing their energy future. Founded in 1990, Energy Cities represents more than 1000 local authorities from 30 countries. The Christchurch City Council has been a member of Energy Cities since 2006.
