CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A new customer service policy will save money and energy for Cleveland Utilities, General Manager Tom Wheeler said last week.

Beginning Aug. 1, service hookups received after 3 p.m. will be performed the next morning, Mr. Wheeler said at a utility board meeting.

“Most utilities have had this service policy for years,” Mr. Wheeler said. “We have continued going up to 5 p.m. So after 5 p.m. we are paying overtime, and that includes time and a half on Saturdays and double time on Sundays.”

This will allow better time management and lower overtime costs, he said.

“We think once the public learns this is the procedure, it won’t hurt anybody,” Mr. Wheeler said.

CU officials told board members said the utility is searching for ways to conserve fuel and save money.

Budget Manager Ken Webb said the measures include tracking fuel used by all of the utility’s 103 vehicles and asking meter readers to walk more.

“With the increasing cost of fuel, we were challenged, over time, to reduce consumption by 10 percent,” Mr. Webb told the board.

Employees have discussed ideas such as consolidating trips to and from the utility center; less engine idling, including windshield warmups in winter, and rethinking meter routes to find more time to walk.

The utility is using a computer to track how much fuel is pumped into each vehicle.

“We will probably reach a time when we have squeezed all we can out of these changes,” Mr. Webb said. After than, savings might come from technologies such as remote control meter reading.

Mayor Tom Rowland said Tennessee cities and legislators are considering forming groups to buy fuel at guaranteed prices, similar to what car dealers are doing now in order to offer gas cost incentives to car buyers.

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