Warrington Borough Council energy bills nearly hit £500,000

According to data released by the council, the body was paying nearly £500,000 to energy supplier Npower in July this year.

The total figure released was £493,310.35.

Of that, more than £200,000 was spent on electricity for council-owned sites and buildings.

This comes as the government's energy watchdog, Ofcom, announced that the energy price cap will rise again.

Prime Minister Liz Truss announced on Thursday, September 8, measures to limit the average household energy bill to £2,500.

I’m ending the short-term thinking on energy once and for all.

I’m acting now so people and businesses are supported with a new Energy Price Guarantee.

I will tackle the root cause of the issue by boosting domestic energy supply to ensure we’re not in this position ever again. pic.twitter.com/khsfmH9B7Z

— Liz Truss (@trussliz) September 8, 2022

In June 2019, the council paid more than £150,000 in energy costs - some £341,000 less than in July of this year.

The increase over the two-year period is a markup of 225 per cent.

Fuel prices have also hit the town's council, as increasing costs have led to a spending increase of more than £50,000 between May and July this year.

In May, the council paid £86,077.10 over the costs of petrol and diesel - by July, this had increased to £136,591.87.

Over the three-month period, this represents a fuel spending increase of almost 60 per cent.

45% of people polled by the @ONS last month said they found it difficult/very difficult to pay their energy bills 👇

Worth bearing that in mind. Plan to cap bills at current levels might be welcome, but doesn't mean pain for households alleviated eitherhttps://t.co/oyawzHrlld

— Andy Bruce (@BruceReuters) September 7, 2022

Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: "This increase in spending is deeply concerning.

"Obviously the council can't control energy prices but the worry is that local residents will see bigger council tax bills next year.

"Town hall bosses must ensure they spend taxpayers' cash as efficiently as possible.”

Part of the council's latest cost-cutting exercise was by making 30 members of staff redundant between 2021-22, which cost more than £1 million in exit packages.

Latest from our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (17 to 29 Aug 2022) https://t.co/qMnaBEG9Vr

📈 81% of adults were very or somewhat worried about rising costs of living in the past two weeks
🧾 45% of adults who pay energy bills found it very or somewhat difficult to afford them

— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) September 7, 2022

A council spokesperson said: "The cost of living is and will continue to impact the services we run, in the same way that it is impacting households across Warrington.

"Our investments in solar farms have helped us reduce our reliance on other aspects of the energy market, as we effectively provide ourselves with our own renewable electricity.

"While we are dealing with an increase in energy costs, our priority remains to provide the most vital services to our residents, particularly our most vulnerable, and to plan for how we can best support our communities in the run-up to winter.”