Are government bodies complete wasters when it comes to energy?

There is a perception out there that government and state agencies are inefficient with regard to energy management.

Government Energy Efficiency Feature

So it may come as a surprise that the government performance to 2020 NEEAP targets in 2014 indicate a ~17% reduction, that puts the public sector about halfway towards its 33% energy efficiency target for 2020. That reduced spend saved the taxpayer €120 million!
So who are these notable efficiency reduction performers?

Bord Na Mona 49%
DAA 41%
Irish Rail 36%
DCU 31%
UCC 23%
OPW 19%
Defence Forces 16%

Educational, state commercial and local government bodies, consisting of 62% of the energy use considered under NEEAP, lead the way with an overall 19.4% reduction, pulling up the numbers for all the rest. The emphasis on achieving ISO 50001 certification by most of these bodies bodes well for the future.

As with all performance measurement, there are the underperformers. The most noticeable laggard is the HSE, using 21% of state energy, just reducing use by 11.8%. The good news is the OPW have been brought in to execute their successful Optimise Power @Work program within the HSE.

The worst performers are our schools and ETBS, at just 9.6%, reflecting a total abrogation of responsibility for energy efficiency and procurement by the Department of Education for the primary and second level sectors. Until these efforts are centrally funded and managed, it will continue to be so.

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