A NEW report by management consultants Cornwall Insight says that energy buyers have many more years of rocketing fuel prices to come – which will force universities to consider new ways to control students’ energy consumption levels.
Stating that prices will remain above £100/MWh annually, which is double the five-year pre 2021 historic average, the report says alarm bells are sounding for organisations that have an obligation to provide comfortable environments in multi-occupancy housing, such as student accommodation.
Commenting on the report, Prefect Controls, the energy management firm, says: “The almost unique situation that exists in most student dwellings is that the room occupant does not directly foot the bill for the energy they consume. The all-inclusive room-fee is a very attractive offer for students as it helps them to budget their monthly outgoings for their accommodation, confidently. But for providers of rooms the sudden increase in energy costs has put a severe dent in their cash-flow.”
The report predicts that although the recent surge in prices will subside, they will remain at an all-time high up to 2030 and beyond, with the winter of 2025 being especially significant with £150/MWh being a real possibility because of a drop in power production due to nuclear power station closures and the delays in the commissioning of Hinkley Point C.
Says Prefect Control: “Shopping around for cheaper energy is futile as all energy providers are facing the same issues. For student accommodation, the only logical solution is to control energy consumption at the point of use.
“It is human nature to consume more of what is considered free! All energy managers will have anecdotes of finding thermostats in rooms that have been turned up to maximum and left at that setting. Controls on heaters go some way to regulating energy use, with timers, programmes, and restrictions on maximum outputs etc. but most of these are manufactured for the domestic market where a homeowner is responsible for paying the bills and therefore does not try to ‘cheat the system’.
“In a commercial application the ‘locked’ controls integrated into these heaters are easily ‘un-locked’ by resourceful students. They simply hold a button for a few seconds and then, to quote Pink Floyd, ‘Set the controls for the heart of the sun!’.”
Prefect Controls suggests that a local control system designed and manufactured specifically for the student market is a cost-effective way to manage energy use in these circumstances.
