Local highway authorities, alarmed at rocketing prices for the supply of electricity to streetlights, are turning to renewable sources because they are cheaper. The move comes as national guidance on limiting the impact of energy cost hikes is promised. Surrey County Council has awarded a three-year, £8M contract for powering 86,000 streetlights from renewable sources to Eon, as part of a ‘shrewd’ decision to keep electricity price increases down. While it was happy with the £2M annual cost of its previous contract with British Energy, ‘when we were looking to re-tender the contract, prices across the energy market had virtually doubled over the past two years’. The move would also prevent 16,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. Similarly, Brent LBC has chosen an energy contract sourced entirely from renewable sources from EDF, in order to maintain the 8p per kilowatt cost it is currently paying for the next two years. This would also allow the northwest London borough to avoid paying the £30,000-a-year climate change levy it would have to pay as a non-domestic user of fossil fuel-produced energy, said environment director Richard Saunders. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has launched an investigation into why price rises for streetlighting electricity outstrip those for increases in domestic and other sectors. The probe follows a national survey into price rises which found that the cost of un-metered electricity rose by up to 44% in 2005/06 (Surveyor, 15 December 2005). The UK Lighting Board plans to advise highway authorities on ways of escaping the worst of the price hikes, which could include consideration of contracts sourced from renewable power, according to chair Roger Elphick. ‘The increased charges have had a significant impact on highway authority revenue budgets. We want to show that there are various ways of cutting costs – by reducing consumption or dimming lights, for instance – that don’t have to involve turning off lights, which is what a number of councils are thinking of doing.’ Ofgem’s investigation into the reasons for the un-metered price rises is ongoing. Any action by the regulator would need to be based on hard evidence, stressed Elphick.