20.  Utilities

The Utility Services comprise natural gas, fuel oils, electricity and water supplies.  

The Service Provider purchases Utilities and gets this back through the Monthly Unitary Payment.

The annual cost of Utilities is estimated, based on the Annual Consumption Target for each of the fuel types and the unit cost.  The overall estimate is divided by twelve to give the monthly figure.

At the end of each year the actual consumption of each fuel type is compared to the target and any variation in cost related to changes in consumption (up or down) are borne by the Service Provider.

At the end of each year the actual unit cost of each fuel type is agreed and compared with the estimate.  The Monthly Unitary Payment is adjusted by an Annual Utility Adjustment which reflects the difference between the estimated and actual unit cost per fuel type.

There is provision for benchmarking the actual unit cost for each fuel type.  The Service Provider has to produce a detailed report covering a number of requirements and these must be discussed with the Council.  The Council should provide reasonable assistance to the Service Provider to enable it to take advantage of its agreements with utility suppliers if required.