19 January 2023
In the face of so much uncertainty around the cost of energy, businesses will want to be doing everything they can to give themselves greater control over their energy bills.
And with energy prices predicted to remain high until 2024, knowing how to get a handle on your monthly budgets is going to be essential over the coming months.
To help you and your business navigate these difficult times – both now and in the future – we’ve gathered some helpful, effective tips for anticipating your future energy bills below…
A great way of protecting your business from energy price volatility; moving to a fixed contract is something that you should consider if you place a high value on certainty.
As energy prices remain hard to predict, a fixed contract protects you from this volatility – ensuring your bills stay the same and in line with what you’ve budgeted for.
Along with the added peace of mind it can bring, a fixed rate contract also lets you benefit more from the government’s energy relief schemes. You can read more about the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) on our blog: The future of energy support for businesses and what it means for you.
A smart meter or Automated Meter Reading (AMR) device can provide your business with a whole host of benefits to help you lower your energy costs over the next few years.
For starters, they eliminate the need for estimated bills, digitally measuring how much energy you’re using and then sending this information directly to your energy supplier. This ensures you’re only paying for what you actually use, rather than what your supplier thinks you’re using.
And since a smart meter can help you closely monitor where you spend your money in near real-time, you can use your previous bills and data to see where you’ve spent more than usual. With this data and information to hand, you’ll be able more effectively reduce energy in certain areas and better budget in preparation for future charges.
Further to the above, businesses can extract a significant amount of intel about their consumption from smart energy devices. Granular-level data about electricity and gas usage should be available from all suppliers, providing valuable insights that can contribute to a more targeted energy reduction strategy.
For SEFE Energy customers with a smart or AMR meter installed, you can access up to 12 months of historical consumption data in the My SEFE Energy portal. This allows you to make better-informed decisions about prospective energy reduction measures, and to see clearly where and when most energy is being used throughout the day or over a specific period.
Relying on granular consumption data is an effective way to make positive adjustments to your business’s day-to-day operations, with a view to save and reduce energy in the long term. It also simplifies annual energy auditing, giving you a clear picture of where energy efficiencies can be achieved.
It’s easy to look at the final amount on your bill without giving things a second thought, especially when you’ve got a business to run. But in these volatile times, it pays to know where your money is going each month.
Getting in the habit of scrutinising your energy bills can help you work out whether you’ve been overcharged and helps you to understand what each part of your bills means. Doing so ensures you’re always paying the right amount for the energy that you’ve consumed.
For more information, our handy resource lets you get to the bottom of both your gas and electricity bills, with detailed breakdowns of what they’re made up of – and what each part of them means – so you can be fully certain about what you’re paying.
An energy audit might seem time consuming, but even the most straightforward of investigations can highlight areas where you might be wasting energy.
You don’t even need to fork out for an expensive energy auditor either; going the DIY route can still go a long way to unearthing some home truths about your company’s current energy usage. And from here, you can work on correcting these bad habits and reducing your energy bills going forward.
To help you get started, check out our in-depth energy audit how to. You’ll find all the steps you need to know to begin carrying out your own energy audit, complete with a checklist to help you monitor your current usage during your investigation.
If you would prefer to take the professional route, however, SEFE Energy has partnered with ETS, an energy management consultancy that uses smart building technology to gain in-depth insights into how your business is using energy and offer recommendations for improvements. It’s a paid service, but for those serious about keeping bills in control and becoming more efficient, it could be a smart investment.
Using these effective tips, we hope you’re able to control your energy bills and find some more stability during these uncertain times. Looking to change your energy contract to one that can better benefit you? Visit our homepage or call us today on 0161 837 3390.