Business Electricity & Gas Guide For Businesses

Business Energy

When it comes to choosing a new business electricity supplier or simply renewing an existing electricity plan, there are a number or techniques that you can use to reduce business electricity rates and tariffs as a small business or large corporation.

There are various price comparison tools online that you can use, however it is important to understand what the major factors are in determining value for money.

Usage
As a business, you will probably use more electricity and gas than personal users. Often energy usage is out of your control. Your business needs essential machinery and it has legal requirements to keep office temperatures above 16 degrees. For this reason, business owners are resigned to whatever electricity and gas bills utility suppliers throw at them. You will be surprised that looking around could reduce your energy costs significantly.

Compare business electricity online with some of the free quotation tools, and you may just bag yourself a massive saving. You can also check out business energy usage statistics to see trends.

Switching

Most business electricity providers put you on a yearlong contract; therefore you should be aware of any penalties there are in switching to a cheaper supplier. The cost of early cancellations may outweigh the savings. Be sure to check with the new supplier whether they will cover or contribute towards cancellation fees. They often do.
The first point of contact should be your current supplier. Let them know that you have found cheaper quotes online, and enquire as to whether they would be willing to beat the quote. If not, then it’s time to switch as they clearly do not treat you as a valued customer!


Assessing Energy Options

It is a common assumption that buying your electricity and gas from the same supplier will save you money. This is not always the case. It is important to take into consideration regional variances in energy costs. You should then work out whether there is potential savings in going with different business energy suppliers for electricity and gas.

To fix or not to fix your energy costs
It may be worth fixing your contracts. Being on a on a fixed-term contract may save you money if energy prices increase during your fixed term. However, it is important to keep an eye on when your contract expires as your contract may be renewed at a higher tariff.

Make sure you understand how much notice you have to give your current supplier if you want to switch, or you could be stuck with a higher tariff for another term.


Direct Debits
In addition energy quotes, it is usually possible to reduce costs further by setting up a direct debit.