Archive for February, 2012

Moving Premises? Make Sure you check the business electricity and gas contracts that might already be in place!

23 February 2012

With business rates rising in many towns and cities, an increasing number of businesses are looking to move premises. If you are doing that for your business, be sure that you check business electricity contracts are not already in place for the premises you are moving to – and indeed check the terms and conditions of the existing business electricity contract you have for your current building.

Whether starting a new business or starting your existing business afresh in a new location, it’s vital that you compare business electricity prices. Overheads such as business electricity and gas make a real difference to a business’s bottom line and it’s essential that you find the very best business energy prices from the start.

Barely a week goes by when business gas and business electricity prices are not in the news, more often than not horror stories about the prices of these essential commodities are ever increasing. To compare electricity prices from all of the energy companies out there is a time-consuming and frustrating affair and something you may not have time for with all the other factors you have to consider when starting or relocating your business.

That’s why using a business electricity price comparison service such as the Energy Advice Line could help.

The Energy Advice Line can save you time and effort as well as money when switching business electricity supplier, and can help you compare business electricity prices.

All of the Energy Advice Line’s prices for business electricity and gas are available on the company’s website, to guarantee complete transparency. Prices are checked regularly with business energy suppliers large and small to ensure that you get the very latest prices offered to you.

You can work through the process of comparing commercial electricity prices yourself via the Energy Advice Line website, or can call the company’s freephone number – 0800 915 1800 – and speak to one of the Energy Advice Line advisors, who will talk you through the process.

If you are switching from an existing supplier, the Energy Advice Line can also remind you of your contract renewal date, to make sure that you don’t end up being rolled over into a potentially expensive contract with them, and even offers via its website termination notices that you can serve on your existing energy supplier.

Visit the Energy Advice Line online for the latest news and views from the business energy market, along with advice on how to compare business electricity prices and switch supplier, and to see the very latest tariffs available for your business.

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Business Electricity, Business electricity price comparison, commercial electricity price comparison
AUTHOR
Julian Morgan, MD Energy Advice Line
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Thinking of starting a new business in 2012?

20 February 2012

Thinking of starting a new business in 2012? Make sure you take care of the basics as you would at home. . . Your business energy is a crucial overhead

With unemployment at a record high and the jobs market increasingly competitive, more and more people are thinking of starting their own business. If you are one of them, it is important to remember to sort out overheads such as business electricity right from the off.

Business electricity prices vary widely, and there is a huge array of tariffs from which to choose. It can all be rather daunting and baffling, but it’s something you want to get right. Never fear, though: help is at hand.

You can use a business electricity prices comparison service to quickly and easily compare the costs of business energy from a range of different suppliers – but do be sure that the service you are using is impartial and trustworthy.

Some business electricity comparison services are not all they seem, with links to a specific energy supplier. So, while you may be offered the cheapest deal from that particular supplier, you could be missing out on cheaper deals from elsewhere. If you’re going to compare business electricity prices, you need to know you can trust your comparison company.

The Energy Advice Line is the UK’s only impartial business electricity price comparison and switching service exclusively for business customers. It has campaigned for utility companies to change their business energy contracts and billing arrangements to make it easier for firms to switch suppliers to get the best business electricity rates and gas deals.

The Energy Advice Line offers an entirely free and impartial service to compare business electricity prices. Working with the big six energy companies, as well as smaller suppliers, but importantly working for the customer not the energy company, the Energy Advice Line is in a position to negotiate substantial savings in prices – meaning you could get a cheaper deal than you would if you approached each company individually.

All of the advice that The Energy Advice Line is free and you are under no obligation to take the deals on offer to you. Should you chose to take one of the business electricity prices offered to you, Energy Advice Line’s staff can also help you set up your contract, and can remind you of important dates in the future such as contract renewal time, so that you will be ready to compare business electricity prices again within good time of your contract expiring, thus avoiding being rolled over into a more expensive contract.

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Business Electricity, Business Energy, Business electricity price comparison
AUTHOR
Julian Morgan, MD Energy Advice Line
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A FREE computer to switch Business Electricity suppliers! So what’s the catch, you must ask.

16 February 2012

The Energy Advice Line has warned business electricity users to be wary of energy companies offering  inducements such as free computers to switch suppliers.

Julian Morgan, managing director of the Energy Advice Line said such offers might be appealing at first glance but it was essential for business electricity users to check that the underlying energy tariff was competitive.

E.ON is the latest utility company to woo new business electricity customers with an offer of free technology. The first 850 small and medium-sized firms signing up to its three-year Business Electricity Plan will receive a free Asus Netbook and the company’s Business Energy Manager smart meter package.

Last week, British Gas launched a free smart meter programme for small business electricity users, arguing that the monitoring devices could help firms identify how much of the energy they use is being wasted.

Mr Morgan said it was important for business electricity users to look beyond the equipment being offered by these suppliers because in many cases the underlying energy tariffs that came with these deals were expensive.

“The offer of a free computer might look good at first but actually businesses need to check the business electricity tariff they will pay under the deal because it might be excessively high,” Mr Morgan said.

“It is a very shrewd tactic and one of the reasons why business electricity customers have to be wary when they deal with suppliers directly. The main objective of a supplier is to achieve the greatest profit margin possible. However, the Energy Advice Line’s main priority is to save customers money.

“It’s also important to remember that when we provide customers with the most competitive business electricity and gas quotes on the market we do so with no complicated payment plans or product names involved.

“Not only does this mean our quotes are very easy to understand, but they are accurate because they only compare the actual rates. We compare business energy prices on a like-for-like basis and it’s very difficult for businesses to do this on their own.”

In recent weeks, the ‘big six’ energy suppliers, which have come under intense attack for imposing double-digit price hikes, have attempted to deflect the debate back to business energy users.

The utility companies have argued that data gathered from interactive smart meters shows that business electricity users are wasting a significant amount of energy and need to do more to take control of their usage to bring their energy bills down. For example, recent research showed that many businesses waste energy by keeping lights on in car parks over the weekend and vending machines switched on at night.

The Energy Advice Line is the UK’s only impartial business electricity price comparison and switching service exclusively for business. It has campaigned for utility companies to change their business energy contracts and billing arrangements to make it easier for firms to switch suppliers to get the best business electricity rates and gas deals.

For further information visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk

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AUTHOR
Julian Morgan, MD Energy Advice Line
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Energy Advice Lines welcomes call from Ofgem for suppliers to simplify tariffs

14 February 2012

THE Energy Advice Line has welcomed calls by energy regulator Ofgem for energy suppliers to offer simpler tariffs that make it easier for business electricity customers to compare energy prices.

Julian Morgan, managing director of the Energy Advice Line, the UK’s leading price comparison and switching service for business, said that bills needed to be simpler to understand for both domestic and business electricity users.

A jargon-busting committee of MPs is to investigate whether the language used on gas and electricity bills is a barrier to consumers switching suppliers. The public perception of gas and electricity prices will also be examined by the Energy and Climate Change Committee.

“We know that many small and medium-sized businesses in the UK struggle to understand the jargon used on their bills and in their business energy contracts,” Mr Morgan said.

“That’s why we offer a free service to our customers to help them understand their bills.

“In addition, when we provide customers with the most competitive business electricity and gas quotes on the market we do so with no complicated payment plans or product names involved.

“Not only does this mean our quotes are very easy to understand, but they are accurate because they only compare the actual rates. We compare like-for-like and it’s very difficult for businesses to do this on their own.

”Bills should be easy to understand, not designed to baffle consumers.”

The parliamentary committee will investigate what obstacles may be standing in the way of energy consumers changing suppliers more readily. As part of the probe, the ‘energy literacy’ of domestic and business electricity consumers may be tested to see how much of their bills they currently understand.

The committee also wants to learn whether consumers are aware of initiatives such as smart meters, and whether they know how to introduce energy efficiency measures into their homes.

Ofgem believes that some domestic and business energy consumers are so confused by the array of different tariffs available that they avoid comparing the prices of different suppliers and remain on expensive tariffs.

Ofgem has proposed that suppliers offer their domestic energy customers a choice of simpler tariffs so they can readily compare prices. Under the proposed reforms, each of the major energy suppliers would have one standard tariff for each of three payment methods (cheque, direct debit and pre-payment meter) for both gas and electricity, resulting in six standard tariffs per firm.

Suppliers would still be able to offer specialist tariffs including dual-fuel and tracker-style tariffs in addition to the standard tariffs.

Mr. Morgan urged business owners struggling to understand their bills to contact the Energy Advice Line, which is the only independent price comparison and switching service in the UK designed exclusively for businesses.

Firms can view the five most competitive energy offers from the UK’s leading suppliers online, compare prices against their renewal quotation and switch at the click of a button.

The Energy Advice Line’s expert team can also offer advice on how to switch suppliers, as well as a renewal reminder service to ensure you do not get caught in an expensive business energy rollover contract.

For more information visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk

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Business Electricity, Business Energy
AUTHOR
Julian Morgan, MD Energy Advice Line
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Business electricity wasted when staff go home

9 February 2012

Almost half the business electricity used by UK firms is wasted after employees go home for the day, according to British Gas.

A new report has found that 46% of the business electricity used by small to medium-sized organizations is consumed outside  normal office hours.

British Gas analysed the findings of data gathered from 6,000 smart meters installed in business premises across the UK. Smart meters provide ‘real time’ readings of gas and electricity usage and can be read remotely by energy suppliers.

Examples of electricity being wasted by businesses outside of business hours included lights being kept on in company car parks over the weekend, pubs keeping fruit machines on after hours and vending machines being left on in offices overnight.

The energy company’s findings echoed a recent report by the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) at Oxford University, which called for all businesses and homes in the UK to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The ECI report identified wasteful energy usage as a key area where the UK had to improve in order to meet its climate change targets.

But although it identified some policies that could be implemented to reinforce energy efficiency, the ECI report said that businesses had to recognize the financial benefits that flowed from lower energy bills.

Julian Morgan, managing director of the Energy Advice Line, the UK’s leading business electricity price comparison and switching service for businesses, said it was clear that some businesses would benefit from carrying out a thorough audit of their energy usage to prevent waste.

But he said the single biggest thing a UK firm could do to drive down their energy bills was to search the market for the lowest business electricity prices and switch suppliers when their fixed-term contracts ended.

He said the Government also needed to do more to open up competition in the market as the dominance of the Big Six energy companies prevented business electricity rates from being as low as they should be.

“Smart meters can be a valuable tool in identifying ways for firms to reduce their overall energy use,” Mr Morgan said. “They are also intended to lead to lower commercial electricity prices but it remains to be seen whether business energy suppliers pass these savings on.

“While the Big Six dominate the market, businesses must ensure they  shop around, and a reliable, impartial price comparison service can help them do this to find the best available business electricity rates.”

The Energy Advice Line is the UK’s only impartial business electricity price comparison and switching service exclusively for business. It has campaigned for utility companies to change their business energy contracts and billing arrangements to make it easier for firms to switch suppliers to get the best business electricity rates and gas deals.

For further information visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk

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Business Electricity, Business Electricity Prices, Business electricity price comparison
AUTHOR
Julian Morgan, MD Energy Advice Line
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Cold snap could push business electricity prices up again

8 February 2012

The severe cold snap across Europe, which has pushed gas prices to their highest level for five years, is proof that business electricity prices will remain volatile, according to the Energy Advice Line.

Julian Morgan, managing director of the UK’s leading business electricity price comparison and switching service, said although energy suppliers had recently cut their prices, firms would be wise to search for good deals now if their fixed-term contracts were ending.

Mr Morgan said there were fears that the unexpectedly harsh European cold snap would push gas and business electricity prices back up sooner than expected. Wholesale UK gas prices have jumped by 50% since the beginning of the cold snap to reach their highest level since 2006.

“To remain in control of their energy bills and to keep them as low as possible, businesses need to be vigilant and should not expect the lower business electricity prices announced by the Big Six earlier this year to last,” Mr Morgan said.

“If your fixed-term contract is coming up for renewal it is now more important than ever to compare the market and investigate the best business electricity rates available. It may be wise for firms to lock in good deals now.

“Businesses can do this up to 120 days before the end of their fixed-term contracts.”

With more people forced to use more gas to heat their homes during the bitterly cold weather, and with Europe’s major gas supply from Russia not being as high as usual, some countries such as Italy, Greece and Australia have suffered fuel shortages.

Energy analysts say there is still sufficient gas in the UK, but if higher prices continued these could feed through to domestic and business electricity users eventually.

“If wholesale prices rise faster than expected, it’s obvious retail prices will rise faster than expected too,” he said. “But it’s not easy to predict whether prices are back up for long,” according to Stephen Fitzpatrick, chief executive of Ovo Energy.

Tom Pering, an analyst at energy consultancy Inenco, said gas prices had spiked even higher in the current cold snap because energy traders were worried that British supplies were dependent on a major Norwegian pipeline.

Any disruption to this supply could have serious consequences at a time when the weather is bad across Europe.

“It’s difficult to say whether the high prices will continue as the weather is uncertain,” he said. “We think there is a risk premium being built in to the price, even though something hasn’t happened. We need strong flows from Norway. If that was to have a disruption, things would be more difficult.”

The Energy Advice Line, the UK’s first energy price comparison and switching service for business, offers help and advice to organisations of all sizes about how to save money on their business energy bills.

Energy regulator Ofgem has urged all businesses to shop around for the best available business gas and business electricity prices, and an impartial service like the Energy Advice Line enables firms to do this quickly and easily.

For further information about the Energy Advice Line’s services, or to obtain quotes or advice, visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk

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CATEGORIES
Business Electricity, Business Electricity Prices, Business Gas, Business electricity price comparison
AUTHOR
Julian Morgan, MD Energy Advice Line
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