How to Make Significant Savings on your Business Energy

Making informed decisions on your business energy choices will improve economic and environmental outcomes for your business. Find out how you can make significant savings on your business energy.

In this current economic climate, it’s vital for businesses to ensure that their finances are stable.

It’s also no secret that business energy costs are a significant overhead for most companies. However, it’s often neglected and not typically viewed as a major avenue for reducing costs.

We’ll review a range of measures that businesses can implement immediately, in the short- and long-term, which can lead to significant savings on their business energy.

Simple Solutions for Business Energy Savings

Check

This is perhaps the easiest method of finding savings. It’s important to periodically review your business energy switching options to find the best deal at the best price.

Bizarrely, many businesses don’t take this option on, with nearly 46% of businesses not reviewing their options at the end of a contract. This means that many UK businesses are significantly overpaying for their business gas and electricity.

At the end of a contract, companies are typically shifted automatically into a more expensive business energy deal. This can be avoided by sorting a cheaper contract before the renewal date.

Data from Ofgem show that a lack of competition in the energy supply sector costs consumers around £2.9 billion a year. Moreover, some suppliers are actually able to reduce electricity prices by 10%, a possible saving of £1.6 billion. They won’t do this unless businesses are proactive in exploring their options.

At Northern Gas and Power, we have established relationships with over 40 business energy suppliers. We’re able to provide business energy comparisons from a wide range of the energy supply market.

We’ll negotiate the best prices for your business, ensure your energy needs are met and provide professional Account Management for the duration of your contract. You won’t even need to speak to a supplier or worry about your energy bills. We’ll do the heavy lifting for you.

Compare

This is actually an even quicker method of finding savings. If you haven’t switched energy provider for a while, it’s worth getting a quick, no-obligation quote online to compare business energy prices. You could find a cheap business energy supplier which offers you the chance to save on your costs.

Using an online business energy comparison tool, like BusinessEnergyQuotes.com, is a hassle-free switching method that delivers business energy comparison results in under 10 seconds.

For larger businesses with more bespoke requirements, or for businesses who have specific energy requirements, there’s also an offline telephone channel available for free on 0330 0300 999.

This method of online business energy switching is big change to the accepted method in the industry, where businesses would have to negotiate independently with each individual supplier.

As a result, BusinessEnergyQuotes.com is designed with simplicity in mind, which is why it’s 100% online.

Consider

Many businesses wrongly assume that reliable energy supply comes only from the ‘Big Six’ suppliers.

While the ‘Big Six’ energy suppliers – Centrica PLC (British Gas), E.On UK, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), RWE Npower, EDF Energy and Scottish Power – have a sizeable market share, they aren’t the only energy suppliers available to businesses.

In recent times, smaller energy suppliers have made a positive impact in the business energy market, providing competition with the ‘Big Six’ and driving down prices on more attractive tariffs and greater levels of customer service.

Convenience

A method which commonly leads to business energy savings is to consider a type of dual-fuel. While it’s not technically an option for commercial energy contracts, it’s still possible to have the convenience of a single energy provider for your business gas and electricity.

With more and more business energy providers entering the energy supply market, cheaper tariffs like these are becoming more common from suppliers looking to differentiate from the competition. They provide an increasingly popular offer for businesses.

What’s more, is the added convenience of having to deal with just one supplier for your business energy.

Contact us at Northern Gas and Power to see if this type of contract is a viable option for your business.

Cut

It’s a simple and proven method of saving on your business energy: cut your consumption.

Heating and lighting will certainly account for a large portion of your energy bills. Preventing these unnecessary energy drains will return energy savings for your business.

For every 1°C of overheating, your business heating costs rise by 8% according to the Carbon Trust. This can be combatted by preventing unnecessary heating in infrequently used spaces such boardrooms or conference rooms, or by maintaining equipment regularly.

In terms of your lighting, it’s estimated that energy-efficient lighting could reduce annual electricity bills down by 66% every year. It’s a small investment for a giant saving.

Create

Some businesses have begun to power themselves leading to significant business energy savings. Generating your own energy could be one of the best ways to ensure both savings and sustainability.

For businesses with the capacity to generate their own energy, wind power could provide between 176 MWh to 15,000 MWh of energy a year, dependant on the maximum power output of the turbine and wind conditions.

A conservative calculation suggests that this self-generation could provide businesses with over 50% of their energy needs, almost halving your energy bill.

There’s also the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (ND RHI), which closes to new applicants on midnight of 31 March 2021. The ND RHI is a government programme where businesses are paid up to 8.9p kWh for generating their own heat through solar panels, heat pumps and biomass.

For more information on this scheme, you can contact Northern Gas and Power for guidance on how to proceed before midnight of 31 March 2021.

Correct

Perhaps the most significant of your business energy savings can be made through kVA correction. It may not be well-known to some: kVA (kilo-volt-ampere) is a unit which expresses power. Your local Distribution Network Operator (DNO) assigns your business a kVA level.

Having the correct kVA is vital. If you overestimate kVA, you will be paying for energy you do not use, and your bills will be higher as a consequence. If it’s too low, you’ll put the network under stress and make your site and even neighbouring sites more susceptible to power failures. And, you’ll also face excess capacity charges which are typically very high.

More worryingly, drawing capacity that goes unused from the grid has serious environmental consequences. As much as 54% of UK electricity supplied by the network is wasted, resulting in unnecessary consumption of natural resources, increasing the carbon footprint and releasing greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere.

The optimal kVA level is just above your maximum demand. All businesses should be analysing kVA usage to ensure it’s set at the right amount to maximise their savings.

At Northern Gas and Power, we have in-house energy management systems which can remotely analyse the past 14 months of your energy use. You don’t actually need to do anything yourself. We’re able to identify your maximum demand and can advise on what the best kVA limit is for your business.

Call

Though the energy industry is vast and complex, there are teams of experts who are on your side.

Northern Gas and Power have built one of the largest, most dependable networks in the utilities sector. We provide expert and specialist advice in procurement, energy services, and technology.

We’ve developed the expertise to supply services across three continents. We provide critical energy services to our clients who choose to work with us.

Companies of all sizes and all sectors rely on our proven knowledge and expertise.

We help over 20,000 businesses manage their energy, providing innovative solutions which help reduce cost, consumption and carbon.

Make Northern Gas and Power your choice today and connect with the right energy partner.

Call us today on: +44 (0)3 300 300 800

Or visit: https://ngpltd.co.uk/our-services/

Rasheed Ahmed, 4 March 2021