A new government scheme will help schools and academies overcharged by energy suppliers to clawback the cash.
The Department for Education has contracted energy consultancy PCMG to run an energy cost recovery service, which will be optional for schools and trusts.
The company will carry out audits to look for “anomalies and billing errors”, then recover funds.
The DfE said it would help support schools “in this economic climate” as they came under “increasing pressure from increasing costs”.
It has predicted schools spend £1.3 billion a year on electricity and gas following huge hikes to energy bills.
The scheme aimed to “drive value for money” by “ensuring that schools can be assured that they are and have been billed accurately for their energy bills”.
It would also facilitate “better access to their own data to help them manage and monitor their energy consumption”.
PCMG would look at up to six years of bills.
It said energy billing was “surrounded by complex structures” and “inaccuracies can happen for a multitude of reasons and can remain undetected for a long time”.
A case study on its website shows savings of £173,950 for Hull City Council.
Tim Golding, an energy expert, said overcharges could relate to VAT, climate change levies and third-party charges incorrectly applied by the supplier.
Micon Metcalfe, a school finance expert, said a trust she once worked for paid a small fee to have its energy bills checked.
“They would check we paid the right amount of VAT, check the metering was correct and check we were being charged for the right site. We found once that one school was sent the bill for another school.”
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