Working With The White Horse Federation

The White Horse Federation is a Multi-academy Trust responsible for 32 schools and 100 meters.

Managing large multi-site energy portfolios can be challenging for trusts. With little to no energy expertise and the responsibility for a large number of meters, the process can become both expensive and complicated.

The Federation moved their complete portfolio of gas and electricity supplies to West Mercia Energy (WME), which has significantly streamlined a previously complex and fragmented process, saving them both valuable administration time and money

Who are West Mercia Energy?

Specialising solely in managing energy contracts for the public sector, WME is jointly owned by four local authorities: Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire councils, respectively. WME are committed to supporting public sector customers to achieve their specific net zero ambitions and work collectively to achieve the Government’s net zero pledge

Overview

Previously, The White Horse Federation’s meters were managed by a number of different suppliers. This meant the team were required to deal with a variety of contractual terms and conditions and end dates.

A portfolio of this nature makes query management particularly challenging which inevitably increases the risk of mistakes occurring. Working in this way also absorbs the time of staff members from multiple teams across the Trust, a resource that often isn’t in abundance in schools.

Our Work

The White Horse Federation were able to consolidate these tasks by moving to our fully managed service. Under this provision, we were able to provide the Trust with everything necessary to manage the portfolio efficiently, including:

Account management
Siteworks
Query Management
Freeing up time for staff
Bill Validation
Provision on an energy monitoring platform
Annual budget support

West Mercia Energy manage our entire portfolio of 31 schools for both gas and power. Their procured rates are excellent as is their managed service. Bill validation and quarterly reviews with our account manager ensure everything is accurate and gives us piece of mind that we are only paying for the correct services/usage. I would have no hesitation in recommending this service.

Reduced Stress

Prior to moving their contract to West Mercia Energy, The Federation was faced with charges for every additional piece of work undertaken by their previous energy supplier. Under our fully managed service clients have peace of mind that all work is inclusive of their contract.

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Time and cost-saving results

The Trust chose our option of consolidated billing. This has resulted in their finance team saving 3 working days per month, which they previously would have spent working solely on their energy invoices.
West Mercia Energy also provide The White Horse Federation with a bill validation and payment management service, which means that not only have they reduced multiple monthly invoices down to one, but the Trust also have peace of mind that the invoice has been checked and validated by experts before they receive it.
The Trust also has access to our energy monitoring platform, MYWME. A bespoke platform where all West Mercia Energy clients can view their energy consumption and spending in one place, which has saved the Trust a considerable amount of time across various departments. The central team has Trust wide access to the portal, while each individual school has their own individual access.

£18,361

in savings through picking up 120 invoices for the Trust

Get in touch with our team today

Contact us

0333 101 4424

Flexible or Fixed Energy Procurement?

We can provide either flexible or fixed energy procurement, depending on the priority of the client.

The Trust opted for flexible energy procurement which is a more risk managed solution, generally favoured within the public sector. Flexible energy procurement, however, does require expertise in the sector. Our experienced trading team monitor energy markets on a daily basis, working to ensure we deliver consistently competitive energy prices for our customers.

By purchasing The White Horse Federation's energy flexibly, we mitigate many of the risks associated with energy procurement. We provide an important budget forecasting service to the Trust, enabling them to set accurate budgets in line with their academic financial year.

A greener future

The White Horse Federation regularly ask their students for their views and suggestions for the Trust’s future, and on this occasion, the students asked the Trust to invest in green energy. West Mercia Energy will be providing the Trust with 100% renewably generated electricity on the Pure Green Energy Tariff from April 2022, enabling them to report zero emissions for electricity under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standards. The Pure Green Energy Tariff guarantees that the energy will only come from UK based solar, wind or hydro sources which will significantly lower their carbon footprint.

Under this provision, the trust will save

1,518 tonnes of CO2 per year!

Emissions from 300 cars each year

Charging 182,000,000 smartphones

Filling over 1,500 hot air balloons