Rising fuel prices have added an extra £2.192m a year to energy expenditure at Lincolnshire County Council.

It budgeted £3.519m for fuel costs in the 2008-09 financial year ending next April but it is now estimating it will have to pay £5.711m – an increase of 62 per cent.

And elected members will be asked to dip into the council's savings to meet rising bills rather than taking cash from frontline services.

The all-Conservative executive, meeting next week will be advised to transfer £1m from contingency funds to help meet the costs.

The annual bill for the county's 60,212 street lights now stands at £2.15m which is £860,000 more than last year – a increase of 40 per cent.

Electricity costs, in addition to street lighting expenses, will take the authority's bill from £337,000 to £556,000 – an increase of 65 per cent.

A 100 per cent rise in the cost of gas will take the bill from £600,000 to £1.2m.

And an additional £21,000 will be spent on heating oil and £111,000 on vehicles. The cost of diesel, including vehicles run by the highways department and used by social workers, has gone up by 23 per cent, taking the bill from £483,000 to £594,000.

And the £2.192m increase does not even cover the county's schools, run by the authority, which are facing their own funding challenges.

The council has set aside £800,000 to spend improving energy efficiency in its buildings and schools – for example Chad Varah School in St Giles, Lincoln, will soon use new geothermal technology to heat classrooms.

Council sustainability officer Doug Robinson said the authority started a carbon management programme two years ago.

A 'voltage optimiser' was installed at county offices six months ago to regulate electricity going into the building.

"This has already led to a 10 per cent reduction in energy usage." said Mr Robinson.

Nick Mann of the Local Government Association said: "Rising fuel costs are of real concern to local authorities which have had to pay out an extra £200m over the past two years. But they are managing to make savings without cutting into service budgets."

Richard Rugg of the Carbon Trust said: "It's common for dramatic energy price rises to have a big impact on a council. Everyone is trying to think proactively about how they can reduce demand for energy.

"It has never been so urgent to minimise demand through good housekeeping, strong awareness programmes and simple things like proper metering. I know that Lincolnshire already has a business plan in place to do that."