Companies in the U.K now spend more on so-called third-party energy costs than they do on gas and electricity itself.
Around 70 per cent of a typical energy bill is now made up of charges that help to support the National Grid’s infrastructure and pay for green energy legislation brought in by the U.K government.
Many of these costs are unavoidable but companies can reduce their energy spend in other ways.
Smart business energy procurement involves switching to a supplier that offers a better deal not only in terms of the unit price offered for gas and electricity, but also more favourable terms and conditions that help mitigate against financial penalty clauses being invoked.
Invoice validation is another area where a proactive approach can pay dividends. It is widely thought that around one in five invoices from suppliers contain errors, with the value accounting for anything up to five per cent of the average bill.
Identifying and making good these errors can save companies thousands of ££s over the years.
Carbon conscious clients
Business energy procurement and invoice validation have long been two of the pillars upon which Energy Management has built its reputation and business over the last two decades, but increasingly the conversation with clients is turning towards sustainability.
This is reflected throughout the entire corporate world. Only this week it was revealed that Amazon has become the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy.
In a bid to be carbon-neutral by 2040, the multi-national tech company invested in 6.5 GW of wind and solar projects to help supply their operations with more than 18 million megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually, enough to power 1.7 million U.S. homes for one year.
Clearly not many other businesses, if any, have that sort of money to invest in green energy projects, but there is nothing to stop them reviewing their energy consumption data, via energy management portals such as EM-Powered, to assess areas of their operation that can be more energy efficient.
A desktop energy audit helps to uncover times and specific locations on site when energy is being used when it doesn’t have to be. Simple measures like turning off lights or investing in more energy efficient machinery can pay off in the long term.
On-site energy generation, through the installation of solar panels on rooftops, for example, or demand-side response are other steps that can be taken in the drive towards sustainability.
If you would like to find out how you can take greater control over your energy consumption, please get in touch with one of our fully-trained consultants on 01225-867722.
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