The Electricity report provides information about electricity usage at your school. Monitoring your consumption patterns regularly helps your school operate efficiently and sustainably.

To learn more about whole of government contracts, billing, and ideas for schools and classrooms, please see the 'Need further support' below.

Data Source: The data is extracted from Shell Energy. For more information regarding billing, please see the resources section below.

Designed for: Principals, school leaders, teachers, school admin managers and asset services officers to:

• track the electricity consumption of a school
• compare consumption patterns against the previous year
• compare usage to the average usage of other schools in the same climate zone
• view greenhouse gas emissions resulting from electricity usage.

Updated: Monthly

What is included in this report?

The electricity report contains key data on electricity consumption including:

• Consumption (kWh) and Cost ($).
• Greenhouse electricity emissions (kgCO2).
• Consumption patterns against the average use of other schools within the same climate zone.
• Year to Date (YTD) consumption.

What should I look for?

If your electricity consumption is significantly higher than the previous year, or if it is much higher than the climate zone average, further investigation may be required.

How to use the report

Select a school

Use the 'Select School' slicer at the top of the report to select a school.

Information about the selected school

The tiles at the top of the report provide details about:

• the year-to-date (YTD) cost, YTD consumption, and YTD greenhouse gas emissions (KgCO₂).
• the number of electricity meters associated with the school.
• the number of students enrolled.
• the school size (m²) (also referred to as Gross Floor Area or GFA).

Note: These details do not change as you interact with the report.

Meter information

Hover over the number of meters to view the number and type of meters (National Meter Identifier or NMI) associated with the selected school.

For more information about meters refer to AEMO Meter codes.

Switch between Cost ($) and Consumption (kWh)

Use the toggle to switch between Cost ($) and Consumption (kWh).

View electricity consumption in three ways

Electricity usage scales to school size. To allow for a fair comparison, usage can be viewed per student or per m².

The 'Select parameter' option allows you to switch between:

• total consumption for your school
• consumption per student
• consumption by school size (which is based on the Gross Floor Area (GFA) of your school (m²).

Your selection will automatically be applied to all charts and tables.

Understanding the charts

Electricity Consumption (kWh) and Cost ($)

Electricity consumption (kWh) and cost ($) information cards indicate the totals received in the last month and are compared to the same period last year.

Use the toggle to switch between consumption (kWh) and cost ($).

Most schools have smart electricity meters, but it is important to note which kind of meter your school has.

• With a smart meter, invoices are received monthly, which means your reports are up to date.
• With a basic meter, updates are received quarterly. As a result, your monthly reports may show zero on months where no data has been received.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity used by a school are included in the report.

Greenhouse gases are released from power stations generating electricity and are calculated using the Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts Factors and are presented as kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (kgCO₂-e).

These emissions have been converted into a more relatable measure represented by the equivalent number of one-way car trips from Inner Sydney High School to Broken Hill Public School.

For example, this 1,142km trip would release 207kgCO₂ if driven in an average new car. Therefore, if a school used 1,035 kgCO₂ it would be the equivalent of 5 one-way car trips from Inner Sydney High School to Broken Hill Public School.

The Equivalent Car Trips from Inner Sydney High School to Broken Hill Public School reported on the Emissions Card is a Year to Date (YTD) total, which grows throughout the year.

Consumption vs. Average (kWh) (Based on Climate Zone)

This chart shows the monthly kilowatt-hour (kWh) electricity usage of a school compared to the previous year’s consumption and enables users to:

• see overall electricity use broken down by month
• identify any periods of increased or decreased usage at their school
• compare the average use of other schools in the same climate zone.

The chart also allows schools to compare their electricity usage to the average of other schools within the same climate zone that would have similar heating and cooling needs and therefore similar consumption patterns.

Each NSW Public School has been mapped to the Australian Building Codes Board climate zones.

Hover over the bars in the Consumption by Month and Year Chart to see the exact consumption for each month.

Note: If your school has a basic meter, not a smart meter, your bills may be a mix of estimated and actual. This means your data may not reflect the true pattern of your usage.

Year-to-date (YTD) Consumption (kWh)

The Year-to-Date (YTD) Consumption (kWh) chart shows cumulative electricity consumption over a year. Users can compare their usage against previous years to identify trends.