Crackdown on wasted gas and electricity saves Glasgow city council more than £4m

A crackdown on wasted gas and electricity saved Glasgow City Council £4.3m last year.

Radiators being mistakenly left on in schools during holidays, as boilers are left running due to technical issues, are among the problems being dealt with.

The council’s energy management team have managed to improve efficiency mostly through a reduction in unnecessary use, which has been praised by councillors.

Green Councillor Blair Anderson said: “Councillors have received reports directly from parents, pupils and school staff saying that some janitors and maintenance staff have been unable to fully control local heating systems and boilers. It is just burning money to have radiators on full blast in schools over evenings, weekends and holidays.

“I am glad we are now finally cracking down on the waste, cutting our bills and our carbon emissions.”

Between April to November last year gas and electricity use has been cut by 12.06 GWh which saved £4.34m compared to the same period in 2024.

The progress was reported to the council’s net zero and climate progress monitoring city policy committee this week.

Committee chair Councillor Lana Reid-McConnell said: “The council’s energy bill has put huge pressure on our budgets, with prices skyrocketing in recent years. By cracking down on waste and faults, millions of pounds have been saved in heating schools and other council buildings.”

The Green councillor for Victoria Park added: “This news is proof that investing in green policies is common sense. We can prevent wasting millions of pounds on energy bills by making our buildings more energy efficient and investing in clean energy tech like solar panels and LED lighting.

“There’s a lot more to be done, particularly with retrofitting buildings and updating to cleaner heating systems.

“It’s a really positive story, showing that climate action can go hand in hand with cuttings costs. It’s important that the council leads the way in reducing their carbon emissions ahead of our ambitious target to meet net zero emissions by 2030.”

A range of measures are being carried out to slash utility bills across the council’s 500 buildings including monitoring to identify high usage so action can be taken.