Commercial Electricity Supplier
Discussion
Hi everyone,
My business has come to the end of a five year contract with our commercial electricity supplier BES Utilities.
I need to resign a contract with someone and know nothing about commercial electric.
Looking for better service/cheaper bills.
Info: We're a small office with laptops, card machine etc...pretty low use. 400Kwh per month in summer (around £90) and around 600Kwh in winter (around £180)
Located on the South Coast.
Have a smart meter fitted.
Thanks
My business has come to the end of a five year contract with our commercial electricity supplier BES Utilities.
I need to resign a contract with someone and know nothing about commercial electric.
Looking for better service/cheaper bills.
Info: We're a small office with laptops, card machine etc...pretty low use. 400Kwh per month in summer (around £90) and around 600Kwh in winter (around £180)
Located on the South Coast.
Have a smart meter fitted.
Thanks
Pot Bellied Fool said:
I know a good guy who's unusually ethical for that industry, want me to put you in touch? He's Merseyside based but works with clients up & down the Country. Message me your contact details if you like and I'll pass them along.
Totally unrelated but I've just sent you a PMgrant8064 said:
Looking for better service/cheaper bills.
Info: We're a small office with laptops, card machine etc...pretty low use. 400Kwh per month in summer (around £90) and around 600Kwh in winter (around £180)
Actually, with a small office like that, you might do well with UW - https://uw.partners/duncan.reid/business (Please quote N31976 if you call them).Info: We're a small office with laptops, card machine etc...pretty low use. 400Kwh per month in summer (around £90) and around 600Kwh in winter (around £180)
WHICH award winning customer service, all UK based. They also do broadband etc but that's not compulsory
Energy is the core...Disclaimer: This is a side gig of mine
What are you paying at the moment per kwh and standing charge
I wouldnt advise brokers, once your on their books you will get inundated with calls when it comes to renewal, I have used brokers in the past and wouldnt go back to one.
As i have proved to myself a good two or three times i can get better rates myself by phoning the companys they have quoted me for.
And i should note considerably better numbers by doing myself.
I wouldnt advise brokers, once your on their books you will get inundated with calls when it comes to renewal, I have used brokers in the past and wouldnt go back to one.
As i have proved to myself a good two or three times i can get better rates myself by phoning the companys they have quoted me for.
And i should note considerably better numbers by doing myself.
There isn’t that much different in obtaining commercial electric contracts than residential ones.
Our business uses about 3,000kWh / month, so about 5-6 times what you are using. I’ve been negotiating the contracts for the last 15 years and have used most of the big providers and a few brokers.
I’ve never found any benefit of using the brokers. In general they are using the same pool of companies you can ring yourself.
The best / cheapest I’ve found over the years tend to be-
Octopus Energy business (my current provider)
Scottish Power
British Gas (business electric)
If you use any of the big comparison website, you will be referred to a company called loveenergy, they are OK, but expect a call every year. Forever! TBH they have never found anything better than I have myself.
As far as length of contracts go, I wouldn’t go with anything longer than 24months. Obviously its always a gamble whether the market goes up or down, but very long contracts get quite pricey as they tend to build a bit of an insurance policy into the price.
I would definitely ring round the big boys first, get a few ball park prices, ring love energy & they’ll scan the wider market for you. Then ring Octopus energy.
If they are the cheapest, I have a referral code that gives us a £200 bonus to split between us-
share.octopus.energy/anew-coral-404
Whether you use it is entirely up to you (but £100 each is very nice). I would recommend them anyway. They are very competitive & their customer service is widely regarded as very good.
If you have any other questions let me know
Our business uses about 3,000kWh / month, so about 5-6 times what you are using. I’ve been negotiating the contracts for the last 15 years and have used most of the big providers and a few brokers.
I’ve never found any benefit of using the brokers. In general they are using the same pool of companies you can ring yourself.
The best / cheapest I’ve found over the years tend to be-
Octopus Energy business (my current provider)
Scottish Power
British Gas (business electric)
If you use any of the big comparison website, you will be referred to a company called loveenergy, they are OK, but expect a call every year. Forever! TBH they have never found anything better than I have myself.
As far as length of contracts go, I wouldn’t go with anything longer than 24months. Obviously its always a gamble whether the market goes up or down, but very long contracts get quite pricey as they tend to build a bit of an insurance policy into the price.
I would definitely ring round the big boys first, get a few ball park prices, ring love energy & they’ll scan the wider market for you. Then ring Octopus energy.
If they are the cheapest, I have a referral code that gives us a £200 bonus to split between us-
share.octopus.energy/anew-coral-404
Whether you use it is entirely up to you (but £100 each is very nice). I would recommend them anyway. They are very competitive & their customer service is widely regarded as very good.
If you have any other questions let me know
Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Monday 7th September 14:42
I was in a similar position not too long ago (with very similar usage): https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=17...
I ended up using the referral link posted by Mr Overheads for the comparison site. I chose British Gas, they installed a smart meter and handled the switch very well. We ended up cutting our bills pretty much in half. I stuck with BG when the years contract ended - I could have saved a few £ but didn't think it was worth it.
I ended up using the referral link posted by Mr Overheads for the comparison site. I chose British Gas, they installed a smart meter and handled the switch very well. We ended up cutting our bills pretty much in half. I stuck with BG when the years contract ended - I could have saved a few £ but didn't think it was worth it.
voicey said:
I was in a similar position not too long ago (with very similar usage): https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=17...
I ended up using the referral link posted by Mr Overheads for the comparison site. I chose British Gas, they installed a smart meter and handled the switch very well. We ended up cutting our bills pretty much in half. I stuck with BG when the years contract ended - I could have saved a few £ but didn't think it was worth it.
My advice would be don’t stay with your incumbent supplier if you can switch to a cheaper deal.I ended up using the referral link posted by Mr Overheads for the comparison site. I chose British Gas, they installed a smart meter and handled the switch very well. We ended up cutting our bills pretty much in half. I stuck with BG when the years contract ended - I could have saved a few £ but didn't think it was worth it.
British Gas Business are great at giving you a good price as a new customer, but always raise it at renewal above the market price.
I spent quite a few years flitting between ScottishPower and BG every second year. Couldn’t ever persuade either of them to give me a good rate at renewal. Crazy, but you deal with a different department with different rates at renewal.
Switching is so easy, literary one phone call and a meter read at the renewal date. You’d be crazy not too switch.
Remember, they have absolutely zero loyalty towards you.
Ham_and_Jam said:
voicey said:
I was in a similar position not too long ago (with very similar usage): https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=17...
I ended up using the referral link posted by Mr Overheads for the comparison site. I chose British Gas, they installed a smart meter and handled the switch very well. We ended up cutting our bills pretty much in half. I stuck with BG when the years contract ended - I could have saved a few £ but didn't think it was worth it.
My advice would be don’t stay with your incumbent supplier if you can switch to a cheaper deal.I ended up using the referral link posted by Mr Overheads for the comparison site. I chose British Gas, they installed a smart meter and handled the switch very well. We ended up cutting our bills pretty much in half. I stuck with BG when the years contract ended - I could have saved a few £ but didn't think it was worth it.
British Gas Business are great at giving you a good price as a new customer, but always raise it at renewal above the market price.
I spent quite a few years flitting between ScottishPower and BG every second year. Couldn’t ever persuade either of them to give me a good rate at renewal. Crazy, but you deal with a different department with different rates at renewal.
Switching is so easy, literary one phone call and a meter read at the renewal date. You’d be crazy not too switch.
Remember, they have absolutely zero loyalty towards you.
At £90 a month you might get that down to £70 with a lot of ringing round or get it to £75 quickly and easily with a broker. Is it worth the hassle of ringing round when comparison sites will do an ok job at that level of spend.
For those at larger spends who think they can do it themselves, take a read of this guide from Haven Power on how 60% of the cost of your bill is calculated. The summary is pasted below and you can find the full 13 page article on the link below
.
https://www.havenpower.com/news/tpc-update-august-...
If you understand the below you're good to go on doing it yourself:
The energy market has changed enormously since the coronavirus pandemic first struck the UK in March 2020. Add to that the changes brought about since Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review reported back, and you can see a hugely different picture of TPCs beginning to appear.
We’ve produced a special guide to help you understand how these changes to non-energy costs might affect you and your business. You can download your free copy now.
Why are TPCs changing?
The energy marketplace has changed hugely in the last six months or so. The UK’s lockdown led to an enormous fall in demand for electricity – with weekday peaks almost disappearing and the entire week tending to look more like a weekend.
This drop in demand has significantly reduced the charging base for Third Party Costs (TPCs). This has been accompanied by major changes, including:
Ballooning costs of Contracts for Difference (CfD) in the first half of 2020, along with the introduction of a loan from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to help cover these costs in the short term, recovery of which has been deferred to Q2 2021.
A proposal to defer the additional Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) costs rising from COVID-19 incurred in 2020/21 into the 2021/22 charging year. A decision on this is expected imminently.
Meanwhile, the Targeted Charging Review has also continued to proceed, with Ofgem confirming that the changes to the Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) charges would take effect in 2021 and the changes to the Distribution Network Use of System (DUoS) charge would take effect in 2022.
Once implemented, customers who were previously able to avoid TNUoS charges by reducing their demand during the TRIAD periods will be unable to do so.
We anticipate a similar change for DUoS charges, which we expect to reduce costs for those currently unable to avoid peak consumption periods. A set of bandings will determine the costs of the new residual charges, though these aren’t yet finalised.
.
https://www.havenpower.com/news/tpc-update-august-...
If you understand the below you're good to go on doing it yourself:
The energy market has changed enormously since the coronavirus pandemic first struck the UK in March 2020. Add to that the changes brought about since Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review reported back, and you can see a hugely different picture of TPCs beginning to appear.
We’ve produced a special guide to help you understand how these changes to non-energy costs might affect you and your business. You can download your free copy now.
Why are TPCs changing?
The energy marketplace has changed hugely in the last six months or so. The UK’s lockdown led to an enormous fall in demand for electricity – with weekday peaks almost disappearing and the entire week tending to look more like a weekend.
This drop in demand has significantly reduced the charging base for Third Party Costs (TPCs). This has been accompanied by major changes, including:
Ballooning costs of Contracts for Difference (CfD) in the first half of 2020, along with the introduction of a loan from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to help cover these costs in the short term, recovery of which has been deferred to Q2 2021.
A proposal to defer the additional Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) costs rising from COVID-19 incurred in 2020/21 into the 2021/22 charging year. A decision on this is expected imminently.
Meanwhile, the Targeted Charging Review has also continued to proceed, with Ofgem confirming that the changes to the Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) charges would take effect in 2021 and the changes to the Distribution Network Use of System (DUoS) charge would take effect in 2022.
Once implemented, customers who were previously able to avoid TNUoS charges by reducing their demand during the TRIAD periods will be unable to do so.
We anticipate a similar change for DUoS charges, which we expect to reduce costs for those currently unable to avoid peak consumption periods. A set of bandings will determine the costs of the new residual charges, though these aren’t yet finalised.
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff