Most businesses spend a lot of money each year on gas and electricity bills. By understanding your business’s energy bills, you will be able to cut down on unnecessary costs.
We investigated how you can prevent your business from overpaying on utility bills, and also investigated how a business can cut down on carbon emissions and be more sustainable.
How to prevent overpaying on your utility bills
1) Understand your Utility Bill
If you conduct a business energy assessment, your energy advisor will point out areas where your business could be more energy efficient. The advisor will explain your energy usage and what you are being charged for.
Utility bills consist of two sections:
1) Delivery
Your delivery charges include the costs to your energy supplier to supply you with electricity, and the costs of maintaining the distribution network, such as pipelines and electricity lines. A business cannot do much about the delivery fees.
2) Supply
Supply charges are what you actually use, and include direct charges to you as the customer, a distribution charge, a charge based on the demand of the resource, and an efficiency program charge.
A business can lower supply charges by cutting down on office equipment that relies on resources, or switching suppliers.
2) Find the best energy companies
Due to the competing nature of utility providers, many suppliers offer low prices initially and lure in customers that way, only to increase prices or have plenty of hidden costs.
The best energy suppliers for small businesses or medium-sized businesses will meet the following criteria:
- Communicate with you if you are presented with any issues with your utility bills.
- Offers solutions to any problems you may have when it comes to your business energy needs.
- Are completely transparent when it comes to costs included on your bills.
- Willing to negotiate a better deal and offer consistent prices.
- Helps your business to take advantage of energy market conditions.
- Willing to offer you energy-saving options.
Working with a reliable energy supplier is the best way to avoid overpaying on your utility bills as they will be completely transparent about what you are paying and why, and will be willing to work with you to decrease your costs.
For education on your utility bill, you can seek advice from Utility Bidder.
Ways to cut down on consumption and save money on utilities
1) Fix leaks
Fix any leaky taps or toilets at your business premises to help you cut down on your water usage. In the long run, this will save your business a lot of money.
2) Get low-flush toilets
If you own the building your business is in, then upgrade the toilets to low-flush cisterns to save money. You can save about 7% on your water bill this way.
3) Use low-energy lightbulbs
Switching to low-energy or LED lightbulbs will use about 75% less electricity than incandescent lightbulbs.
4) Improve insulation
If your business has to run heating throughout winter, then add an insulating layer to your windows to retain heat better. This will cut down your heating bill significantly.
5) Stick to cooler temperatures
Turning down your thermostat in winter is an easy way to use less electricity or gas for heating. It is suggested that you will save 3% per degree you turn it down.
6) Unplug what you are not using
If you are not using items at the office, like the microwave, your laptop, and even the printer, unplug them completely.
7) Check your bill
Even if you have a trusting utility provider, make sure to check your bill for any mistakes. There might be some extra chargers that do not match your own meter. Always be willing to ask questions.
Final Thoughts
If you understand your utility bill and you work with a reputable and trustworthy supplier, you most likely won’t overpay on your utilities. You can also implement the above suggestions to cut down on unnecessary expenditures.
