Organisational utilities procurement 2026

FOI reference: FOI-2026-3584 

You asked

General Information: 

1. How many sites are part of this organisation? 

2. Are utilities (gas, electricity, water) procured collectively on behalf of all sites? 

3. Who is responsible for procurement decisions relating to utilities? (Please state job title) How does the organisation ensure compliance and public procurement regulations when procuring energy? 

4. Does the organisation use a framework for energy procurement? If yes, which one? 

5. Does the organisation have any sustainability or Net Zero objectives that influence procurement decisions? If yes, please summarise. 

Energy Procurement & Pricing 

1. How are your electricity and gas contracts procured? (e.g. direct with supplier, via broker/TPI, via framework) Which framework, DPS, or third-party broker/TPI is or was used? Please state the name. 

2. When was your current electricity contract signed or agreed? 

3. When was your current gas contract signed or agreed? 

4. What is the current contract end date for your electricity supply? 

5. What is the current contract end date for your gas supply? 

6. Who is your current electricity supplier? 

7. Who is your current gas supplier? 

8. If your electricity contract is fixed price, what is the current unit rate (p/kWh)? 

9. If your contract is flexible, half-hourly traded, or index-linked, please just confirm the contract type and we will not ask for a specific rate. 

10. If your gas contract is fixed price, what is the current unit rate (p/kWh)? 

11. If your contract is flexible, half-hourly traded, or index-linked, please just confirm the contract type and we will not ask for a specific rate. 

12. What is the current standing charge (p/day) for electricity and gas? 

13. Was a broker or Third Party Intermediary (TPI) involved in arranging your current contracts? If yes, please state their name. 

14. What commission, broker fee, or TPI payment was paid in connection with your current gas and/or electricity contracts? Please state the amount per meter, per contract, or as a p/kWh uplift. If the organisation does not hold this information, please confirm whether it has been requested from the broker or supplier. 

15. How many suppliers submitted quotations for your most recent electricity and gas procurement? 

Metering, MOP, DA & DC Arrangements 

1. (MOP = Meter Operator I DA = Data Aggregator I DC = Data Collector- these are contracted services that determine how your energy data is captured and settled) Are any of your electricity meters Half-Hourly (HH) settled (Profile Class 00)? If yes, how many HH meters does the organisation have, and across which sites? 

2. Who is the current Meter Operator (MOP) for your electricity meters? 

3. When was the current MOP contract signed, and what is its end date? 

4. Who is the current Data Collector (DC) and Data Aggregator (DA) for your electricity meters? 

5. What charges are applied for MOP, DA, and DC services? Are these shown as a separate line item on bills, or embedded within the unit rate? 

6. Were MOP, DA, and DC contracts competitively tendered, or were they assigned by the supplier or framework? 

Energy Monitoring & Management 

1. Does the organisation currently have any form of energy monitoring in place? (e.g. AMR, smart meter portal, half-hourly data access, real-time dashboards) If yes, which sites have monitoring, and what type is in place at each? Please distinguish between: real-time I live data I half-hourly/ Day+1 data I monthly smart read only I manual reads only Which platform, portal or software is used to view or analyse energy consumption data? 

2. Is gas consumption monitored separately to electricity? If yes, how? 

3. Does the organisation receive automated alerts for unusual or excessive energy consumption (e.g. overnight or weekend usage)? 

4. Does the organisation receive any bill validation or bill checking service, from a broker, consultant, or software platform? 

5. Has the organisation undertaken any energy audits, Display Energy Certificate (DEC) assessments, or ESOS compliance reporting in the last three years? 

6. Has the organisation ever used energy data to identify and evidence savings? If yes, please give a brief summary. 

Water Procurement & Monitoring 

1. How are your water and wastewater contracts procured? 

2. Which framework, DPS, or third-party was used? Please state the name. 

3. When was your current water contract signed or agreed? 

4. What is the current contract end date for your water supply? 

5. Who is your current water supplier? 

6. What unit rate (p/m3) are you currently paying for water and wastewater, if known? 

7. How many suppliers submitted quotations for your most recent water procurement? 

8. Was a broker or TPI used in procuring your water contract? If yes, please state their name and any fee or commission paid. 

9. Are there any additional services included such as leak detection, water efficiency, or bill validation? If yes, please describe. 

10. Does the organisation have any water monitoring or sub-metering in place to detect leaks or track consumption at site level?

We said

Thank you for your request. 

General Information:  

1. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has office presence at seven locations across the UK. Three of those are operated by the ONS, namely, Newport, Titchfield and Christchurch. Where we do not operate the office location, we are not responsible for the procurement or provisions of utilities. 

2. Yes, to some extent. Government Commercial Agency (GCA) Frameworks are utilised where accessible for the location. 

3. The ONS utilises existing frameworks available to us via GCA who procure utilities on behalf of the UK government and the wider public sector. 

4. GCA energy framework – Supply of Energy 2. 

5. We do under the Greening Government Commitments (GGC). Organisations are required to integrate sustainability and Net Zero objectives into procurement considerations. This includes mandatory sustainable procurement standards (GBS), commitments to procure environmentally sustainable goods and services, and the use of procurement processes to support Net Zero targets. GCA frameworks apply the same sustainability considerations. 

Energy Procurement and Pricing

1. GCA Framework RM6251 – start date 24 February 2023, end date 20 February 2027.  

2. Please see note 1. 

3. Please see note 1. There is no gas supply to our Newport office. 

4. Please see note 1. 

5. Please see note 1. At the Christchurch site, the contract with British Gas has no end date. The Titchfield site also has no end date as it is a Variable Price Plan. 

6. EDF – all sites. 

7. Total Energies at our Titchfield site, and British Gas at Christchurch. 

8. We are on EDF flexible rates.  Newport – £0.19 per kWh daytime and £0.24 at night. Titchfield – daytime £0.19 kWh, night £0.17 kWh. Christchurch – £0.35 kWh. 

9. See note 8. 

10. See note 8. For Titchfield - £0.03 per kWh and for Christchurch - £0.06 per kWh. 

11. See note 8. 

12. Newport - Electricity is £0.65 per day. Titchfield – Electricity £0.66 per day, Gas £58.18 per day. Christchurch – Electricity £7.89 per day, Gas £0.87 per day.  

13. No. 

14. Not applicable, please see note 1. 

15. Refer to GCA. 

Metering, MOP, DA and DC Arrangements  

1. Newport – One main meter for billing purposes, which is smart, and we have a number of submeters across site. 

2. Stark Connect maintains ONS electricity metering at Newport. Titchfield – EDF, Christchurch – SMS Energy Services Ltd.

3. Newport – This is a year-to-year arrangement running 1 April to 31 March annually. Titchfield – 4 September 2025 to 4 September 2026, Christchurch – 7 September 2025 to 7 September 2026. 

4. EDF as part of the ongoing supply contract.  

5. We pay aggregated standing charges to EDF for these services. 

6. Collectively covered in the main supply procurement undertaken by GCA. 

Energy Monitoring and Management  

1. None. 

2. Both utilities consumption are monitored manually by ONS Facilities Management Teams. 

3. No. 

4. No. 

5. Yes, our Facilities Management provider undertakes this on our behalf periodically and intermittently presents data to the ONS.  

6. Used to support installation of Photovoltaic panels at Newport and Titchfield.   

Water Procurement and Monitoring  

1. At our Newport site, Welsh Water is the only regional supplier, so we are bound to use them as our supplier. Southern Water provide water services to Titchfield and Christchurch as the only regional supplier, so we are also bound to use them as a supplier. 

2. Not applicable. 

3. No contracts as such, because we use the regional provider of water supply. No monitoring services are used. 

4. Not applicable. 

5. At our Newport site, Welsh Water is the only regional supplier, so we are bound to use them as our supplier. Southern Water provide water services to Titchfield and Christchurch.   

6. Newport – Water £1.98 per m3. Titchfield – £2.80 per m3. Christchurch – £1.50 per m3. 

7. Not applicable, please see note 1. 

8. No. 

9. None as such. Our Facilities Management provider will provide these services if required.  

10. For our Newport site we have access to Welsh Water telemetric data via a portal and do have submeters across site on incoming supplies within the neighbouring Intellectual Property Office (IPO) building.