The energy consumption of any large or small business impacts the overall energy bill and the carbon footprint. A thorough renewable energy business comparison helps in choosing a cost-friendly energy source, but generally, most of the energy cost for businesses is associated with electricity. So regulating and introducing different strategies can help in cutting the cost.
How to Reduce the Business Electricity Bill?
- Check if your business qualifies for a low 5% VAT. This is achieved when the business consumes a particular kWh of electricity per day. Any charity or non-profit organization also qualifies for the low VAT.
- Use power strips to turn on/off multiple devices at the same time.
- Introduce energy-efficient appliances in the office. Use energy-saving light (CFL) or LED lights as they last longer than conventional bulbs and ensure up to 75% reduction in the bill.
- Contact the local utility company for a free energy audit that will examine the energy usage, insulation issues, or air leaks.
- All the computers, vending machines, printers and other electronic appliances in the facility should be turned off at night to avoid energy wastage.
- Install occupancy or motion sensors in restrooms, conference rooms etc., so that lights are automatically turned off when these places are empty. Use daylight harvesting techniques to adjust the indoor lighting levels.
- Using smart thermostats or regulating the ones installed based on occupancy can eliminate unnecessary heating and cooling.
- Reduce energy consumption during peak hours.
- People usually print hundreds of pages every day, which means the printer is continuously in use. Introduce strategies that need less paper to reduce the energy consumed while printing.
- Introducing work for home for few days in the week will reduce the energy consumption for computers and other appliances.
- Increase the energy efficiency of the business facility by insulating, regularly cleaning the vents and planting trees for shade and protection against wind.
Different Elements of the Business Electricity Bill
Standing Charge – this is the price paid for the supply of energy to your business each day regardless of the consumption.
Unit Rate – this is the price paid for each kilowatt of gas or electricity consumed. The unit rate for business energy is lower compared to domestic energy.
Energy Usage – the total gas and electricity consumption of your business for the billing period is listed
VAT charges – the amount of value-added tax for the utility bill
Wholesale energy cost – this is the price paid by the supplier for buying energy in bulk. If the business does not use fixed-rate tariffs, any increase in the wholesale cost will impact the energy bill.
Climate Change Levy – this is the environment tax by the government for energy consumption. It was introduced to encourage businesses to shift towards sustainable choices for energy.
Governments introduce different policies to encourage investment in renewable or green energy. The business will receive Feed-in-Tariff if it produces its own electricity using renewable sources and supplies some of it to the national grid.
The electricity bill for the business is calculated with the usage information given on the utility bill. Business owners should check their utility bills after introducing any energy-efficient strategies to make sure their consumption and cost are reducing.
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