Written question asked by Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 March 2010. It was answered by Phil Woolas (Labour) on Wednesday, 7 April 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Departmental Energy

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) voltage optimisers and (b) equivalent technologies are used within buildings occupied by his Department.

Answer: The Home Office has adjusted the transformers in its headquarters in 2 Marsham street to tap down the voltage levels thereby reducing energy consumption. The Border Agency building Vulcan house in Sheffield has highly efficient inductive lighting and inductive motor loads so voltage optimisation would be of little or no value.The Home Office, working with the Carbon Trust, has also identified several potential sites to install voltage optimisation technology on the Home Office estate (including its Executive agencies). Work on fitting voltage optimisation technology in a UKBA building in Hayes has commenced.

Secondary information