Business Electricity

[voicey]

We are coming to the end of a fixed term contract for our electricity supply to our business. I was hoping someoen could help witha couple of questions..

1) What sort of price per kwh should I be targeting? We have a 3-phase supply and use about 5,000 kwh per year.

2) What's the best way to find a supplier?

Cheers...

[Mr Overheads]

5000kWh doesn't sound right. That's only £750 a year at 15p. Are your bills about that per annum?

[anonymous-user]

Interesting so following this. I have struggled in the past to find a competitive new supplier. I used a comparison service a few years ago and am now with SP. Our bills have been going up a lot recently and i think we are out of contract in June.

[Mr Overheads]

soofsayer said:

Interesting so following this. I have struggled in the past to find a competitive new supplier. I used a comparison service a few years ago and am now with SP. Our bills have been going up a lot recently and i think we are out of contract in June.

Again what level of spend roughly. At the small end comparison sites are ok, but larger spends need complex analysis to give you a proper full picture to make the right choice.

[anonymous-user]

Mr Overheads said:

Again what level of spend roughly. At the small end comparison sites are ok, but larger spends need complex analysis to give you a proper full picture to make the right choice.

I think we are around £5k a year, small end of smallest I imagine.

[Mr Overheads]

soofsayer said:

I think we are around £5k a year, small end of smallest I imagine.

At that level of spend, I would use a comparison service to minimise the hassle, but avoid brokers adding excessive commission and misleading sales patter.

This link:
https://affiliates.energylinxforbusiness.co.uk/aud...
Will earn us a very small commission, I think last months receipt from them was £7! But every little helps.

If you want to cut out our commission and in line with how Moneysavingexpert site works (i.e. he always puts an asterisk on commission earning links) here is a commission free link:
https://www.energylinx.co.uk/

If you use the commission link I'm more than happy to discuss the results you get before you lock anything in, provide guidance etc.

One tip for everyone's benefit reading this. Do not consolidate your supplies into one contract end date. You, me nor the broker (it's always brokers pushing this) have no crystal ball saying what energy prices will be doing in 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 years. So if you lock in ALL your supplies to one end date in say 3 years time, might mean you have nothing to think about for 3 years but in 3 years time if the energy market happens to be spiking (as happened massively in 2008 when oil rocked to $140) you might find your £5k bill, for say 3 supply points) suddenly becomes £10k a year. However if you renewed 1 supply of 3 each year, then in the year energy rocketed and plummeted you would only catch the top on 1 of 3 supplies. Hence risk management is naturally embedded into your energy contracts by spreading them out.

[voicey]

Mr Overheads said:

5000kWh doesn't sound right. That's only £750 a year at 15p. Are your bills about that per annum?

We're about £100 per month. 21.19p per unit. 27p standing charge.

Clearly it's really low use but I'd like to reduce the cost if possible!

[Mr Overheads]

voicey said:

Mr Overheads said:

5000kWh doesn't sound right. That's only £750 a year at 15p. Are your bills about that per annum?

We're about £100 per month. 21.19p per unit. 27p standing charge.

Clearly it's really low use but I'd like to reduce the cost if possible!

The link above will give you a good range of options. Current SME rates should be 13 to 14p plus 25p to 45p standing charge. So you can definitely save on the rates you're paying. Region and meter type dependent of course.

[Dr Interceptor]

We're relatively small - single shop retail unit with offices above.

Just signed with Gulf Energy at 13.19 standing charge, and 13.8 pence per unit.

I like having the Gulf racing colours on their invoices

[Busterhighmen]

I believe 2manycarz's business revolves around this.

[smifffymoto]

I believe it is his core business.

[anonymous-user]

Mr Overheads said:

At that level of spend, I would use a comparison service to minimise the hassle, but avoid brokers adding excessive commission and misleading sales patter.

This link:
https://affiliates.energylinxforbusiness.co.uk/aud...
Will earn us a very small commission, I think last months receipt from them was £7! But every little helps.

If you want to cut out our commission and in line with how Moneysavingexpert site works (i.e. he always puts an asterisk on commission earning links) here is a commission free link:
https://www.energylinx.co.uk/

If you use the commission link I'm more than happy to discuss the results you get before you lock anything in, provide guidance etc.

One tip for everyone's benefit reading this. Do not consolidate your supplies into one contract end date. You, me nor the broker (it's always brokers pushing this) have no crystal ball saying what energy prices will be doing in 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 years. So if you lock in ALL your supplies to one end date in say 3 years time, might mean you have nothing to think about for 3 years but in 3 years time if the energy market happens to be spiking (as happened massively in 2008 when oil rocked to $140) you might find your £5k bill, for say 3 supply points) suddenly becomes £10k a year. However if you renewed 1 supply of 3 each year, then in the year energy rocketed and plummeted you would only catch the top on 1 of 3 supplies. Hence risk management is naturally embedded into your energy contracts by spreading them out.

Thanks

[PF62]

To be a bit cheeky and tag onto this thread, any opinions on the rates I should be expecting to see for the following for commercial use (small managed housing development) -

Gas usage of 120,000 kwh per year
Electricity of 16,500 kwh per year (75% day / 25% night)

I have been quoted

Gas 3.85 kwh, with a 38p / day standing charge
Electricity 16.8 kwh day / 11.6 kwh night, with a 166p / day standing charge

To my untrained eye the rates quoted from a (rather unhelpful) broker seem a bit high but I would appreciate any views (together with any suggestions for contacts).

[Mr Overheads]

Yes they do seem high probably lots of commission but depends on where you are in the country. e.g. Cornwall can be more expensive because of the distance of transportation from power source.

Try the Energylinx links above.

[PF62]

Mr Overheads said:

Yes they do seem high probably lots of commission but depends on where you are in the country. e.g. Cornwall can be more expensive because of the distance of transportation from power source.

Try the Energylinx links above.

Thanks, have done and (unsurprisingly) you were right.