Siauliai municipality in northern Lithuania took a slew of measures to cut energy bills, but stopped the experiment after a month.
In October, the Siauliai municipal administration set out to make significant savings. Air conditioner remotes were taken away from employees to prevent them from hiking up the heat. The number of kettles in the office was cut to one per ten people. Most importantly, employees were instructed to come to office only three days a week and work from home on Thursdays and Fridays.
However, these measures have not led to significant savings: only 214 euros over the month.
“When you weigh the two things – economic benefits, which are very minimal, and the loss of service to the population and the working conditions – we have decided not to continue with this measure in our austerity plan,” comments Antanas Bartulis, director of Siauliai Municipality Administration.
However, even though municipality employees are working from the office as usual, the drive to economise has not been entirely abandoned.
“We don’t drink coffee or tea one or two at a time. We offer it to others, and then we put all sorts of rules here, that when you leave a room, you turn off the lights,” says Rigita Tijunaitiene, head of the Siauliai Coordination Department.
Other public institutions in Siauliai are also encouraged to save money. They are equipped with sensors that display heat, water and electricity consumption. Other municipalities in northern Lithuania say they are also trying to save electricity, keeping their indoor temperatures lower than in previous years, but have no plans to shorten the working week. (LRT/Business World Magazine)