Guide / Prepare
Before a quote: build your school's energy data book
A reliable buying decision starts with the same verified facts reaching every bidder. Assemble a manageable record of authority, meters, demand and future changes before requesting offers directly or through an appointed TPI.
Start with the buyer and the decision
The first task is to identify who can buy the energy. A school name and postcode are not enough. Record the contracting legal entity, which sites it controls, who owns the current agreement and which officer can approve a new commitment. A maintained school should confirm its local authority's arrangements and delegated powers; a trust should check its central policy; an independent school should check its company, charity or group governance.
Name one school owner for the data book and one reviewer. Give the procurement a reference and record the intended supply dates, decision deadline and approval route. The TPI can assemble the evidence, but the school must be able to understand and retrieve it.
Make a record for every supply point
DfE's minimum-standard questions identify meter information, usage history, notice dates and charge disclosures as essential inputs. Our suggested record below puts those inputs alongside the school context that makes a quote meaningful. Mark unknowns explicitly rather than inserting an assumed value.
| Record | Include | Check before issue |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer and site | Legal entity, site address, school identifier, operational contact | Match the invoice and actual buyer; identify shared or landlord supplies. |
| Electricity | MPAN, meter serial, supplier, tariff, capacity and available interval data | Distinguish import from export and confirm which building each meter serves. |
| Gas | MPRN, meter serial, supplier, annual quantity and billed kWh | Reconcile units and meter changes; retain the supplier's consumption record. |
| Existing agreements | Supply dates, notice provisions, broker appointment and metering services | Read the agreements, including separate service terms and renewal clauses. |
| Charges and treatment | Unit and standing rates, other charges, fees, VAT and CCL evidence | Separate agreed rates from estimates and ask the relevant professional to resolve tax uncertainty. |
| Demand | At least 12 months of bills and usage; preferably 24 months where available | Flag estimated reads, missing intervals, unusual periods and inconsistent totals. |
Explain the pattern behind the annual total
Two schools using the same annual kWh can have very different demand profiles. Add term dates, opening hours, evening lettings, catering, sports facilities, residential accommodation and holiday operation. Where half-hourly information is available, ask the TPI to show the daytime shape and overnight baseline rather than only a yearly bar chart.
Keep the original data and a short quality log. A meter replacement, unusually cold winter or extended closure may explain an apparent change. Reconcile the period covered by bills with the period used in the supplier forecast. If the evidence is incomplete, say what remains estimated and how that uncertainty affects the comparison.
Procure for the school you will operate
Create a separate record of expected changes to operating hours, boarding places, sites or energy use, including planned closures. Link a material climate or estate measure to its plan reference, affected meters, technical owner and expected commissioning window. Record whether it is a proposal, approved project or funded commitment, with unresolved dependencies and the next decision date. A plan entry alone is not authority to proceed.
If solar or heating work affects the requirement, obtain its supported net electricity and gas forecast from a suitably competent person. Include timing and relevant interval demand, confidence and the source assessment. Keep project design and investment appraisal in the appropriate project process. Measures affecting the same load need a coherent combined forecast rather than added headline reductions.
Retain cases for the change proceeding, arriving later or not proceeding within the supply term, with the evidence that would justify switching between them. Match the forecast to the meter, fuel, period and aggregation boundary used in the supplier’s volume terms. Keep historical consumption intact and identify the school person who approves each forecast version.
For academy alternatives, retain the previous financial-year bills used in the DfE benchmark and its dated response. DfE’s Energy for Schools comparison is historical and its future pricing is variable. Label that evidence accordingly; do not turn it into a firm future tariff in the data book. Apply the same supported forward requirement when assessing contractual fit across routes.
Share one controlled version
Use a secure workspace with named access rather than distributing an uncontrolled collection of invoices. Remove unrelated personal or payment information. Agree what the TPI may share, with whom, for what purpose and for how long. Keep a quotation-only letter of authority separate from contract-signing permission.
Before release, the school owner and reviewer should sign off the meter list, common forecast, missing-data log and supplier brief. Give every bidder the same version and record corrections consistently. The output is a school-owned evidence pack that can support competition, mobilisation and the next renewal.
When the supplier response changes an assumption, return the actual avoidable charges, continuing charges and any volume or change costs to the project appraisal owner. Retain the revised forecast and the resulting school decision together. Read the climate-plan renewal feature for the choice that arises when the supply deadline comes before the project approval.