Oil Buying Scheme
Want to save money on the cost of your heating oil?
RCCE believes that finding a way to keep fuel costs as low as possible is particularly important in rural areas, where many households don’t have mains gas.
Our bulk-buying scheme for domestic heating oil has been set up through our social enterprise trading arm, RCCE Trading Community Interest Company (CIC). It aims to bring communities together to make the most of joint buying power so that greater savings can be made and passed on to customers. As part of a growing national network of schemes run by rural community councils in other counties, the power of group buying is going from strength to strength.
The scheme is open to anyone; households, businesses and community organisations that use oil to heat their premises. All members pay a modest annual membership fee (varies according to member type), which is more than offset by the savings made on oil orders.
Oil Prices
The monthly bulk oil buying price on 17th May 2013:
Highest price quoted from a supplier £0.74.95 pence per litre
Average price quoted from a supplier £0.63.30 pence per litre
Member price £0.54.00 pence per litre
( all prices are excluding vat @ 5%)
This means that the saving for our members, against the average price, was £93.00 for every 1,000 litres purchased.
Benefits to the environment
Every time a tanker comes out to make a delivery, it’s using a lot of fuel – a full tanker may get as little as 8 miles per gallon! So if deliveries are organised so that one tanker can reach many customers in as small an area as possible, the fuel consumption is reduced, and so is the carbon footprint.
Why are we doing this?
The current recession and tough economic times have hit us all hard. At RCCE we recognise this and are developing new services to safeguard our future and that of the communities we serve. The Oil Buying Scheme is one such project that we believe can make a real and lasting difference to people in rural communities.
Please see the Get Involved section for downloadable information leaflets, becoming a co-ordinator and membership form.
Changes to the Buying Process from January 2013
From January we will continue to have a monthly buying schedule but, with the exception of 4th January, the deadline for placing your orders will move to a Wednesday at 4pm. We will then collate the orders and give them to the negotiating team on Friday. The negotiating team will then have an extended window of seven working days starting from the following Monday in which to buy, allowing them more flexibility to achieve a better price for members.
How does this impact on members? The increase in buying time will require all members to have enough OIL left from "Deadline" day for up to four weeks, which means that members are going to need to be vigilant on their oil levels and plan ahead, although there will be a mechanism for ‘urgents’ for those who really get caught short. We realise this will be more inconvenient, but on the plus side, the system will enable us to maximise savings for members.
Monthly Buying Dates 2013
Monthly oil buying deadlines are 4pm Wednesday (except 4th January) on the following dates:
12th June
11th July
Please Note - due to seasonal price increases there is no oil order in December.
Past Performance
The chart below demonstrates the unit cost savings achieved over the past couple of years by our colleagues in Oxfordshire, pioneers of the Oil Buying Scheme model that we are now adopting.
All profits from RCCE Trading Community Interest Company (CIC) will go directly to supporting Rural Community Council of Essex who work to enable rural communities to be more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.
RCCE Trading CIC
Registered office: Threshelfords Business Park, Inworth Road, Feering, Essex CO5 9SE
Oil Enquiries Tel: 01376 574340 Web: www.essexrcc.org.uk Email: oil@essexrcc.org.uk
Registered in England as a company limited by guarantee No. 6786377