Council considers £2m plan to cut energy bills

A council is to consider a £2m plan to lower its energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.

Dorset Council could spend £1.3m to replace streetlights with LED units and £700,000 on solar panels for council buildings.

The budget comes from £10m set aside in 2022/23 for climate and ecology projects, the authority said.

Council leader Nick Ireland said: "This is good housekeeping. We're cutting our energy bills, reducing future maintenance risk and shrinking our carbon footprint at the same time.

"Investing now in LEDs and solar lowers our running costs for years to come."

The council said replacing up to 4,000 older streetlight lanterns in 2026-2027 would save around £115,000.

It would also make a saving roughly equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 160 homes, the authority added.

The latest solar panels would also save about £70,000 a year and the energy used by 120 typical homes, the council said.

Of the £10m originally set aside, about £6m has already been invested in energy efficiency, Electric Vehicle (EV) charging, and earlier phases of solar and lighting.

The proposals will be considered by the local authority's cabinet on 29 January.