UWE Bristol facing possible £11m energy bill rise

A university says it could be facing an energy bill rise of more than £11m.

Steve West, vice chancellor of the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, said costs might be as high as £18m in 2023-2024.

He said the price increase would not be passed on to students, despite the impact on the university's budget.

"We're looking at how we can save energy, save costs, but also we're having to look hard about how and where we invest going forward," Mr West said.

UWE's energy bill for the 2021-2022 academic year was £6.5m, while in 2022-23 it was £10.5million, he added.

"Many universities forward purchase [energy], so we forward purchase two years ahead, and that gives us some security.

"But at the moment the market is so volatile, we're going to see a significant increase. We don't quite know how much and that's a big problem for us," said Mr West.

He warned the rising energy prices could "impact on our capital investments going forward".

"At the moment we're prioritising all of the things we can do to reduce our energy to net zero carbon emissions for the university itself," added Mr West.

Meanwhile, the University of Bath told the BBC it generated about 10 per cent of its electricity on campus through the use of renewables and mini-power stations.

The University of Gloucestershire said its energy rate was fixed every six months so, although it was likely to face significantly higher prices later in the year, it was currently protected from market volatility.

While its energy bills have increased "significantly", the University of Bristol said they remained a small part of its overall expenditure.

It said its priority was to help students who were struggling, via hardship funding.

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