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.
Tag: Gerard Duggan
Treatment of SMEs “beyond belief”
Britain’s big energy companies are forcing as many as 250,000 small businesses to pay for their energy up to seven months in advance, it has emerged.
Alistair Buchanan, chief executive of Ofgem, the energy regulator, called the companies including Scottish Power, British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON, RWE Npower and SSE to a meeting in London recently to express mounting concern about the practice, which it is feared could put companies into real difficulty.
Stephen Alambritis, at the Federation of Small Businesses, estimates that about one million of Britain’s 4.7 million small and medium-sized businesses have been contacted by their energy companies in recent months and informed of tougher payment conditions in a move designed to help to shield suppliers from the impact of the growing number of companies entering insolvency.
About a quarter of those some 250,000 small businesses employing 2.5 million people, have been asked to pay an element of their bills upfront, Mr Alambritis added.
Scottish Power, E.ON and British Gas are among those to have tightened their credit conditions recently.
Nick Campbell, an energy trader at Inenco, the consultancy, estimates that UK companies are now being forced to pay up to £350 million in advance for their energy. He said that suppliers appeared to be targeting businesses by sector and that industries heavily exposed to the downturn such as manufacturing, car-making, construction and retail were particularly hard hit.
“There is less risk appetite where these businesses are concerned,” said Mr Campbell. “The vast majority of businesses in these sectors could expect to be hit by these restrictions.”
About 40,000 UK companies are expected to enter insolvency during 2009, a 62 per cent increase on 2007.
Jeremy Nicholson, director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, the lobbying organisation, said some companies in the ceramics industry had been asked to pay seven months’ worth of their energy bills upfront a trend that he described as “beyond belief” in the current environment.
The problem has intensified because credit insurers, which pay the bills of companies that are insolvent, have withdrawn from certain industries amid a surge in business failures.
David Cockshott, head of corporate sales at Npower, said that as many as 60 per cent of new customer applications were now being rejected by trade credit insurers, up from 5 per cent two years ago.
The lack of cover has prompted energy companies both to demand deposits and to seek payment of invoices in as little as five days or customers face having their supplies cut.
Mr Alambritis said he was “very concerned”. “The energy companies have started using some very aggressive tactics. They have been concerned by the high level of bankruptcies. But asking for money upfront puts businesses in an even more precarious situation.”
Microgeneration is the new buzz word
British Gas seems finally to be on something of a roll. The company, which now claims to be the UK’s cheapest gas supplier after trimming retail prices this month, is tempting new customers and winning market share from its Big Six rivals.
The strength of the British Gas brand and the company’s hefty marketing spend during the downturn have no doubt helped.
But the strategy pursued by Centrica, its parent, of bundling gas and electricity supply together with home services, such as boiler, plumbing maintenance and appliance insurance products has also proved remarkably effective in drawing in new customers.
Now Sam Laidlaw, Centrica’s chief executive, is planning to open up a new front in the battle for customers by capitalising on government plans to improve home energy efficiency and to encourage so-called microgeneration of renewable energy, which will see households producing some of their own power from small-scale wind and solar generation.
He believes that by offering customers “home energy audits” and with the use of new technology such as smart meters, Centrica can build a whole new market installing and maintaining these sorts of products.
Meanwhile, two shrewd deals last year could mark a turning point for Centrica by permanently reshaping the business.
Historically, Centrica has suffered from a shortage of its own gas and electricity production. That has forced the company to buy supplies on the open market, leaving it exposed to volatile wholesale prices.
The £1.3 billion purchase of Venture Production, a North Sea gas producer, and a 20 per cent stake in British Energy, the UK nuclear generator, from EDF for £2.3 billion, have helped to solve this problem.
Centrica is now more vertically integrated and more independent than it has been since its creation in 1997 after a demerger from the old British Gas.
Consumers may not appreciate the need for this investment by Centrica as British Gas announce today a jump of 58% in profit for 2009 to a record high of £595 million.
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.
Employers urged to ‘switch off’ workers
Employers urged to set up ‘green initiatives’ for workers.
Employees should be given more encouragement to work to reduce energy wastage in the workplace, the UK’s biggest union has argued.
Claiming that workplaces currently account for around 50 per cent of total UK carbon emissions, Unison has called for the government to do more to encourage employers to offer green initiatives and make ‘green champions’ out of their workers.
General secretary Dave Prentis explained that businesses can help in the fight against climate change by setting up initiatives such as cycle to work schemes or fair trade coffee breaks. He also pointed out that encouraging employees to switch off electrical appliances when they are not in use or switching to energy-saving light bulbs will help firms reduce their overheads.
“Unison already has a similar project running at Great Ormond Street Hospital for children and three other projects planned for launch later this year. These projects will help us to develop best practise green guidance that can be rolled out to workplaces nationwide,” he added.
Thanks to Mark Stephens
Is green your colour or just the colour of money?
Green builders call for £10,000 home makeover loans
Local authorities should do more to encourage Britain’s homeowners to take out loans to give their properties a ‘green makeover’, it has been suggested.
Under the latest proposals put forward by the UK Green Building Council, households would be able to take out loans of up to £10,000 to allow them to make their homes more energy efficient.
This money would then be paid back gradually through their council tax bills rather than just through lower energy bills, as had previously been suggested by the government’s recently-unveiled ‘pay-as-you-save’ scheme.
Not only would such an initiative help improve the energy efficiency of around seven million UK homes by 2020, it could also create as many as 40,000 new jobs in the green sector, supporters argue.
Welcoming the suggestions, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “The government will soon be trialling pay-as-you-save schemes in several hundred homes across the country and we will also use what we learn from these pilots in our final decision on what form the scheme will take.”
Last month, Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud joined forces with the UK Green Building Council in arguing that, by investing in making homes more energy efficient, the government will help cut the utilities bills of millions.
Thanks to Emily Thomas
Local IT firm saves 20% …
Local IT firm Applied IT Solutions Ltd appointed Utilitrack to check if their current gas and electricity suppliers were giving them the best price. Fortunately they weren’t locked into a long term agreement so set to work on reducing their bills.
Our team in Leeds successfully tendered for their contract and have been able to reduce their energy bill by over 20% …
The management of Applied IT liked having a local representative to help them assess the needs of their business very much in the spirit of the way they run their business.
Applied IT Solutions offer all the benefits of an in-house IT department but without the cost for a simple, fixed & affordable monthly fee. In short, they will not charge you every time your computers are misbehaving. The support team delivers a hassle-free service which completely takes the burden of computers and IT off your shoulders, in return for an affordable monthly fee that includes all the attention you may require.
For more information please call 01462 732020 or visit http://www.appliedit.co.uk/
Heavenly Link for Gerard…
Yesterday I had a great start to the day and was appointed by Woodside Church to review their gas and electricity spend. I look forward to reporting back to their management team once I’ve established when their contract expires. In the meantime let me let you a little about this contemporary, Bible-believing Christian church based in Bedford.
It is a large family of people of all ages, united by a love of God and are passionate about living their lives in a way that makes a difference to the people around them. The church is a community of people drawn from many different social and ethnic backgrounds, just like Bedford itself.
Woodside meet together on Sundays at 10.30am in a modern building located in the heart of the Putnoe area of Bedford. They also gather throughout the week in smaller groups meeting in homes across the town. Woodside run weekly programmes for children, young people, parents with small children and those seeking special personal help.
Everyone is welcome to be a part of the life of our church, wherever you’re from, whatever your age and whatever your background.
Woodside Church belongs to the Newfrontiers family of churches.
Will this footballer get a place in the Ath’s team?
Aging soccer player late signing for Bedford Athletic Rugby Club
If you’re a Bedford Athletic fan don’t worry Hendry Rheeders and Val Jones haven’t lost the plot!
The finance team of one of Bedford’s oldest sporting club’s has invited me to review their energy spend to ensure they are getting best value. As an independent utility broker I am able to check my client’s are on the right tariff.
The club won’t be charged a fee for the review and I won’t keep any of the savings which may emerge from me tendering The Ath’s energy on the open market either.
So if you’d like me to be part of your team please call me on 0800 458 9643 …at worst I’ll confirm the costs you are paying are right for your level of consumption, at best I’ll improve those rates to help your business spend its money on more interesting things!
You can be part of the team at Bedford Ath