Making one of your employees an energy champion can be a very effective way of controlling energy costs and the Carbon Trust has published a number of tips for how to make the best of such a role. They include: Reporting energy waste they notice, such as equipment left on unnecessarily. Ensuring equipment and machinery are well-maintained and working efficiently. Contributing and gathering ideas for improving the way things are done. Testing and implementing new processes. Communicating good practice and being an ambassador for change.   It’s also vital that your energy champion has the visible support of top management and all the necessary resources they need to be effective. According to the Carbon Trust approach, the energy champion should: Be the eyes and ears for energy wastage. Be responsible for reading meters and checking fuel bills. Develop a weekly or monthly checklist of duties. Consider forming an action team to report on progress and encourage further action. A good way of identifying waste initially is to stage an energy walkabout.  Because your energy usage patterns will vary throughout the day, the walkabout times should be varied to match, for example, when the cleaners are in, at lunch, and at night or over weekends. From these walks, your energy champion can identify where energy is being wasted and the possible reasons.  Is it a lack understanding, are procedures being overlooked, is repair or necessary to reduce energy costs, or there is a need for capital investment, for example?

Understanding your business electricity per kWh and other charges on your business electricity bill is the key to realising if you’re paying too much on your electricity. Although many people may not realise it, the price that you pay for your energy is made up typically by two different charges: Standing charge – Regardless of how much gas or electricity you use, your standing charge will not adjust to your consumption as it is a fixed amount that you are charged each day. This typically £ per day, or pence per day subject to the size of your meter. Like your BT telephone line rental. Unit rate – this is the price you agree to pay per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy, this will make up most cost of your bill. In recent years OFGEM have made it mandatory for electricity suppliers to display your contract end date, and the electricity per kWh being charged and other factors which contribute to the cost of your electricity bill.   Here we’ll explain top 4 tips for finding the cheapest business electricity per p/kwh, you can also visit our Business Electricity page for more info: Tip 1 Have you just recently moved in to the business premises? Business electricity per kWh rates are cheapest when you have an arranged agreement in place. If you do not have an agreement in place rates are typically double. A fixed tariff means your unit rates halt at one price for the extent of the plan – usually 12 months. Your rates would not change regardless of an increase in wholesale prices given by your supplier as your contract is fixed. Tip 2 Switch suppliers. Shopping around and looking for a new supplier can benefit you greatly. You’re not obliged to stay with the same supplier forever, cheaper rates could be right in front of your eyes but you just haven’t seen them yet. Tip 3 Is it possible for you to switch to an Economy 7 meter? Day time business electricity rates per kWh can be painfully expensive. Only a limited group of energy providers encourage this tariff now, and the issue is that a number of people are still on Economy 7 when it’s not right for their business. Daytime rates can be hideous, so you can end up massively overpaying. Tip 4 For you to find the cheapest electricity prices for your business can be assisted by introducing energy efficiency measurements into your business. By doing this, you can accurately see how much electricity you use and therefore you can give precise readings to your future energy provider enabling them to deliver the cheapest rates to you. You can do this by introducing: A live monitor – by adding this onto your meter you can look upon live usage meaning you can feedback accurate usage when receiving a business electricity quote. Smart Meters – Smart meters really do as they say on the tin, by installing one you will find they monitor accurate usage which feeds back to your provider for them to bill you flawlessly on your electricity usage. Management software – Using management software will allow you to track time and usage at those peak working hours of the day. Click here for more information on Management Software’s.