Woking's own energy firm is charging the council about £326,000 a year more, and it cannot switch. Also on 8 Oct: tenant payouts and £20,000 for the Arbor Centre.

Woking Borough Council’s energy bill for its own buildings is set to rise by about £326,000 a year. The supplier is ThamesWey Energy, a company the council owns, and the council says it has no practical way to switch.

The new contracts are one of ten public items before the Executive on Thursday 8 October at 7pm, in the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices. The meeting is broadcast live on the council’s website (agenda).

Two other items have their own reports:

The energy contracts: about £326,000 a year more

ThamesWey Energy supplies heat, cooling and private-wire electricity to council buildings on its district energy networks. It has reviewed its prices and found that some had “fallen below market benchmarks”. That applies especially to customers on the Victoria Way Energy Centre, whose tariffs “have not been reset for a significant period” (report EXE26-104).

The new tariffs apply from 1 April 2026, so the contracts would be backdated six months. The report sets out what councillors are asked to agree:

  • 10-year contracts for the council’s office buildings
  • 25-year contracts for Export House and Midas House
  • a waiver of the council’s usual contract rules, because the report says switching supplier is impracticable
  • noting an extra cost of about £0.3 million a year, put at “approximately £326k” in the summary

The report is blunt about the council’s position. It says “in practical terms TEL is the monopoly supplier” for these buildings. Some existing agreements had “lapsed” or were never renewed.

Leaving would cost more than staying. Replacing the Civic Offices’ district heating with a heat pump alone is estimated at £2 million to £3 million. Running costs would be “broadly comparable to, or higher than” staying on the network.

The extra cost was anticipated when the 2026/27 budget was set, the report says. PA Consulting reviewed the new tariffs. The main contract terms are in a confidential part of the report, which councillors will discuss in private.

Tenant compensation: what you can claim

Councillors are asked to approve a new compensation policy for council tenants and leaseholders. It sets fixed payments for common failures (draft compensation policy):

  • Missed repair appointments: £15 each time an operative fails to turn up, arrives two hours or more late, or cancels with less than 24 hours’ notice. No payment if the tenant cancelled or there was “no access”.
  • Loss of power: £10 a day for complete loss, or £10 a week for lighting only, after the repair deadline passes.
  • Loss of landlord-controlled heating or hot water: a refund of heating charges for outages of three days or more in the heating season, plus compensation when it lasts more than five days. The draft sets “a flat rate of £15.00 for complete loss of heating and hot water services, or £8.00 per day for a loss of one service only”.

For other service failures there is a discretionary scale. It runs from £50 for a short, low-impact failure up to £1,000 for a serious, long-term effect lasting over a year. A head of service decides the level. The report says the policy is needed to meet the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standards (report EXE26-072).

£20,000 to warm up the Arbor Centre in Pyrford

The Arbor Centre on Coldharbour Road, Pyrford, is in line for £20,000 for new heating. The report describes the building as “notoriously cold and uncomfortable during winter months” (report EXE26-117).

The application says the centre is home to Pyrford’s Guides and Scouts, with over 150 children attending every week. It is also hired for classes, parties, markets and meetings.

The money would pay for:

  • two new gas boilers
  • a pressurised hot water tank, replacing the on-demand hot water boilers
  • four heating zones, so empty rooms are not heated
  • app control, so volunteers can manage it remotely

Three quotes were sought and the cheapest, £20,000, was chosen. Work is pencilled in for November 2026. The centre told the council it relies on hiring income and has no reserves to cover the cost.

The money comes from Pyrford’s share of the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy, paid by developers. The pot holds £111,794 and would have £91,794 left afterwards. All of Pyrford’s ward councillors back the bid. The decision is not open to call-in.

Also on the agenda

  • 36-42 Commercial Way sale. The council is asked to sell the freehold of 36-42 Commercial Way, GU21 6EN, to the highest bidder. Agents Curchod received ten bids by 9 September. The winning offer is unconditional apart from satisfactory title, and the price is confidential (report EXE26-070). It follows the five sales approved in September.
  • Infrastructure spending plan. Officers would draw up an Infrastructure Priority Plan to decide how the borough’s strategic Community Infrastructure Levy is spent before West Surrey Council takes over (report EXE26-114).
  • Complaints annual report. The 2025-26 figures, which we covered in September.
  • Revenues and benefits system procurement, and a new agile working policy for staff.

What it means for you

If you are a council tenant or leaseholder, the compensation rates above are what you can expect once the policy is approved. Keep a note of missed appointments and how long any outage lasts.

If you use the Arbor Centre, new heating should be in by the end of November if the money is approved.

For everyone else, the energy contracts are another cost tied to the council’s ThamesWey companies. The report says the rise is already covered in this year’s budget. Our council tax bands page has what Woking households pay now.

We will report the decisions after the meeting.