First years heat and power

Our first year - Heat and Power Management

Last year at this time, we faced numerous challenges in discovering how to take a meter reading for our electricity. It was not easy, and even the strategic property review team at the council struggled with it. In the end, Claire figured out how to take the electric meter reading. EDF placed us on their emergency tariff, which took effect on October 1, 2024. The initial bill from this tariff caused us significant headaches, resulting in days lost to phone calls, meetings, emails, and letters. However, we can now celebrate a success story: Claire took our meter readings on the evening of September 30, 2025. We now have the exact figures for kilowatt-hours used and the associated costs for our first full year. Claire continues to take monthly readings and monitor our tariff. We also know the kWh usage from the council in previous years. Our sustainability manager is working on his impact report for our first year, which isn’t ready for publication yet, but we should be proud of our achievements in managing our heat and power systems. In our first year of operations

We inherited the heating system of the hub from the council just as winter took a sharp turn—it was a Game of Thrones-style winter, and House PCH was not prepared! During the severe cold snap that hit Scotland last October and November, our sustainability manager faced some tough challenges. At times, it felt as if he was being blamed for the harsh winter (he's a wildling from north of the Wall!) and the inadequacies of the system.

Our combined heat and power management systems were carefully monitored by our Energy Transition Team last winter. Thanks to their hard work, all of our charity's heating and energy needs were affordable. These dedicated individuals had hoped we would transition to our own energy security before this winter so that we wouldn’t have to endure the frequent switching on and off that we experienced over the past year. Unfortunately, the bureaucratic process of going through community asset transfer and obtaining funds for our energy transition is lengthy it involves applying for funds, obtaining quotes, making architectural drawings, and engaging with lawyers, trades representatives and planning. ETC

We managed to get through the tough winter months and enjoyed our inaugural summer. Now, however, we must start preparing for the cold again. This year, we are determined to be better organized as we continue designing our retrofitting heat and power transition toward renewables, which will provide us with energy security.

As the cold months are upon us, we need to address some issues with temporary fixes until we can complete our energy transition to a more efficient system. These fixes will help us keep costs down while we continue to import expensive energy from the grid. We have yet to start on the insulation, but we believe that with our current equipment and some small improvements, we can manage effectively.

As a timely reminder to everyone, we must not lose sight of the fact that the energy performance rating of the former Green Park Community Centre, commissioned by Falkirk District Council in 2019, was the very lowest rating a building of this kind could receive. If action was not taken, the centre's doors would have closed on October 1, 2024. Many other community assets have already shut down due to high energy costs. 

So far, we have managed to keep our costs low through better heat and power management and diligent shopping for fair tariffs. Our ambitious plans aim to achieve net-zero emissions within our first three years of operation, we are now at Stage Two. We look forward to retrofitting the building and enhancing energy security while building resilience against extreme weather events and climate change.

Thank you for being part of our journey during our first year. Please continue to support us and help us grow. Let’s work together to transform the community and its hub into a sustainable space that can be enjoyed for generations to come.