Purpose

To provide approval for the Council’s
continuation in the Framework Contract for energy procurement for
the period from 1st October 2024 to 30th September 2028.

Decision

RESOLVED
 
That the
Cabinet:

a)        
approvesthe
Council’scontinuation inthe LASERFramework arrangementand
completion of an Access Agreement to commit to procuring
electricity and gas through LASER for the period from 1st October
2024 to 30th September 2028.

b)        
delegatesthe
negotiation,approval andcompletion ofall relevantlegal
documentation,to the Head of Major Projects and Commercial
Services, Head of Governance, People and Performance, in
consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Member (Generic
Delegations 2 and 3 will be used to enact this
recommendation)

c)         
delegates the review
of the green basket option to the Head of Major Project and
Commercial Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for
Resources and the Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainability
and Climate Change (Generic Delegation 3 will be used to enact
this recommendation). 

Any such change as a result will be recorded via a
Significant Operational Decision.

Reasons for the
Recommendations
 

LASER benchmarkstheir purchasingperformance eachyear
andshares this informationwith its customers. The current
frameworks have delivered cost avoidance of £274.2k pa to
Crawley Borough Council since they commenced. LASER's track record
in monitoring the market and buying at lower-than-average market
prices accounts for £246.4k pa of cost avoidance. This
calculation compares the prices achieved by LASER from the start of
the framework with the average market price. Lower Supplier
Management Fees also account for £20.5k pa, with reduced fees
from our gas and electricity suppliers compared to buying as
astand-alone customer. Thishas beenshown to reduce deliveredenergy
costsby ~4%pa.

Given the estimated savings achieved through a
flexible procurement strategy, it is recommendedthat theCouncil
continueits arrangementwith LASERand participatein the framework
contract for the 4-year period from 1st
October 2024 to 30th September 2028.
 
The Pan Government Energy
project recommended that to spread market risk, and avoid buying
during periods of peak market pricing, “all public sector
organisations adopt aggregated, flexible, and risk-managed energy
procurement” as provided under the LASER framework. One of
the benefits with the new framework is Protection Against Supplier
Failure.Since 2020,over twentyenergy suppliershave ceasedtrading.
LASER’sframeworks include a financial stability test to
minimise the risk of a framework provider failing during the term
of the agreement. The frameworks contain a panel of suppliers which
provides a ready compliant route to appoint a new supplier should
an existing supplier fail (either because they cease trading, or
they materially breach the terms of the contract).