Tag: cheaper energy bills

How best to compare the market? No meerkats required.

If you are a business customer, switching energy supplier can make a big difference to your bottom line. In the current climate it is very difficult to increase ones prices to improve profits so best to focus on the costs in your business.

There are many suppliers in the market and it can be difficult to find the time to speak to more than a few of them to get a representative sample to measure the market rate.

Getting the timing right to know when to have those conversation is vital. Most businesses don’t know when their contracts end or when to serve notice so that they can leave their current supplier once it expires.

Understanding your contract is essential to the comparison process. Ofgem wants to make sure that businesses understand how to compare deals and how to go about switching. They have produced a guide on their website but so much easier to have someone do the shopping for you!

Find a broker that is independent, transparent and free of charge. Your broker will be able to help you with all the above issues.

Utilitrack is such a broker, we are independent of all suppliers and do not favour one supplier over another; we are transparent as we show our clients the results of our tender process and we are free. We do not take any share of any savings we make for you or charge you for the service. We are recognised by the suppliers who pay an industry standard commission based on usage and not your spend.

If you’d like to know more please call Gerard Duggan on 0845 6041484.

Volatile market conditions

…it’s even more important for client’s to review the market before they renew their contract.

“We are seeing as unique set of circumstances affecting the energy market. Oil prices have increased due to the instability in the Middle East. Historically electricity and oil prices are inextricably linked on the European market, an increase in one leads to rise in the other commodity.

Japan has lost a significant amount of its nuclear capacity as a consequence of the earth quake and tsunami that struck its coastline. Japan is turning to Liquid Petroleum Gas to generate the missing capacity it needs to recover; a fuel that Europe relies on to generate electricity.

The German nuclear sector has, as a precaution, shut down a number of its nuclear plants to review the cooling pumps used in the reactors. Both the German and Japanese plants are of the same generation. The reduced generation capacity has left a gap in the market causing further price pressure.”

What a customer said recently…

“We’d previously looked after our own electricity contract and its renewal. We had done a little homework before we invited Utilitrack to help us. We were delighted with the result.

Thank you very much for sorting [our renewal] – I am very pleased – could you be my accountant too and save me even more money!!”

R E Director – S T UK Ltd Stone Fabricators

 If you’d like me to help your business make sure it is getting best value please call me on 0845 604 1484

Measure your usage – sounds boring but could save many £££

Peter Drucker said: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” But it’s a bit boring watching your electricity meter slowly turning. So why not install a digital electricity usage meter that displays to the nearest watt how much energy your firm is consuming? Meters aren’t expensive. You can pick up a Current Cost Envi digital display (made by British entrepreneur Martin Dix) for under £40 on eBay. Installation is non-technical and takes 30 seconds. If you input your price per kilowatt hour, it will translate the energy statistics into pound signs. The display is wireless, so you can keep it on your desk. You’ll be surprised what an impact the installation of such a device will have on consumption.

Do you spend less than £50,000 on Energy?

If your energy bill is under £50,000 the Carbon Trust can’t offer you much advice so speak to Energy Efficiency in Business (EEiB). Poole based EEIB have a practical assessment process for SME businesses and have energy specialists in many parts of the UK. They can help install simple devices to assist you achieve those all important quick wins and develop leveraging to your newly found green credentials.

The surveys they conduct qualify for training grants and therefore may not cost you anything but save you on average £3500 so well worth a call…speak to Dan Claridge on 0845 5678 100.

Simple answer for Simplified IT Company

“We hadn’t considered using a broker to help us purchase our energy contracts before but I met Gerard at a networking event and though I’d try his business out. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to engage the services of Utilitrack; I only needed to provide a copy of my latest gas and electricity bills. Gerard’s accounts team renewed both our gas and electricity contracts with our current provider and saved us money. As a result of engaging Utilitrack, which didn’t cost us anything, our gas bill is 19% lower and we are paying 28% less for our electricity. I’ve started recommending Gerard to my clients.”

 AvecSys – IT Simplified

Have you heard the story of the happy White Horse?

“Gerard at Utilitrack helped us renew our gas contract in January 2010; at the time our supply was with Shell Gas. Utilitrack made sure our cancellation notice was served to our current supplier to ensure we weren’t rolled into a new contract or went into expensive out of contract rates. Gerard’s team tendered our contract to the open market and they had six responses including a renewal rate from our current supplier. Shell offered a better rate than we were currently paying, some 15% but British Gas more than doubled this which means we have over £1800 extra in our account.

Utilitrack were able to achieve this without any impact on our day to day business; two short meetings with Gerard, one to gather a copy of our bills and one to sign off the contract was all it took. I’d recommend you speak to Utilitrack to see what they can save you. We look forward to Gerard helping us renew our future energy contracts.”

The White Horse Pub Newnam Ave Bedford

Financial fitness at Fitness 4 Less

“When I heard that Energie had partnered with Utilitrack to make sure that I had the opportunity to benchmark my energy spend I was intrigued to learn more. I called Nick (Gerard’s business partner) at Utilitrack and with very little effort from me he got in touch with my energy suppliers and then arranged a competitive price tender across the whole of the market, including my existing supplier, to make sure I could benefit from the ‘win’ rate and not just the ‘renewal’ rate. I saved 23% on my gas bill and 36% on my electricity bill. I urge any member clubs to do the same thing!”

Andy Ingham, Manager at Fitness 4 Less, Canterbury

So can we help you today?

BBC appoint a new expert

If your energy needs are complex, consider delegating negotiations to a third party. Utilitrack Ltd is a Yorkshire-based broker with offices in Bedford who specialise in managing the utility needs of small and medium sized firms. Utilitrack will find you the cheapest deal and provide you with expert information on long-term energy trends so you can take action to hedge against price spikes.

The Blackburn Broadcast Company part of The Local Radio Company plc have asked us to negoiate their next energy contract, only a matter of time before the other BBC asks for our help!

Shop Around

If you’ve been with your utility company for more than two years, chances are you’re paying too much. For gas, electricity and water, it’s imperative to search the market annually for the best deal. With 11,000 different tariffs and tricky termination rules, this could be a chore, so use a utility broker who can connect you with the whole of the market. Beware of those who represent one or two utility companies they may not offer the best value or best savings.

Homeowners are to be paid to generate their own energy

Labour plans to offer cash incentives for electricity created through rooftop wind-turbines and solar panels.

Any excess not used to heat and light homes could be sold back to the National Grid.

The scheme, unveiled by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, aims to increase the country’s use of energy from green sources from around 2 per cent to 15 per cent by 2020.  It is hoped that over the years, householders will make enough money to cover the cost of installing and maintaining equipment and new meters.  Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband announced an array of tariffs will be offered from April.

A ‘typical’ 2.5kilowatt solar installation would generate payments of £900 and reduce electricity bills by £140 a year. This would eventually offset the installation cost of £12,000.

From April next year householders who install woodburning stoves, ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers to heat their homes will also be eligible.  Installing a heat pump in an average semi-detached house could mean payments of up to £1,000 and bill savings of £200 per year.

Tariffs would be guaranteed for between 10 and 25 years, depending on the type of equipment, and are expected to rise in line with inflation.

Ed Miliband said the initiative would help families move towards low-carbon living. Money would be paid to householders through their power suppliers and offset against annual energy bills.  Miliband said: ‘The guarantee of getting an income on top of savings on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make the move to low carbon living.

The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past. ‘It will also change the outlook for a range of industries, in particular those in the business of producing and installing small scale low carbon technology.’

But the proposals were met with disappointment by green campaigners who said the payments were too low to drive a major shift in UK energy generation.

Friends of the Earth’s Dave Timms said: ‘Ministers have been far too timid with a policy that could make a significant contribution to cutting emissions and boosting energy security.’  The Government refused to agree very high tariffs on the basis that it would unfairly penalise households who do not take part.

Tory energy and climate change spokesman Greg Clark said: ‘Conservatives have been calling for feed-in tariffs since 2007, so while this announcement is a step in the right direction, it is also long overdue.  ‘Feed-in tariffs are essential to allow decentralised energy to play a major role in our energy mix, but Labour’s proposals lack ambition. Ministers should have been bolder so more jobs could have been created and greater emissions reductions achieved.’

No doubt this is a subject we will hear more about as we move closer to a General Election.