A lot of different things can affect your business energy bills. Even businesses that seem to be run completely the same will all have slightly different operations, buildings, and energy systems.
One of the biggest factors in the differences between business energy bills is the size of the business.
The size of your business and its operations is going to affect how much your business pays for its energy. Not only does this affect how much you pay in terms of your consumption, but payment terms, tax and levies on energy bills can also vary depending on the size of your business.
If you do not know how much your business could be averagely paying or you are not aware of schemes that could help your business with its energy bills you could be paying a lot more than you need to be on your business energy bills.
Micro businesses
Micro businesses are usually classified as having between 1-10 employees and an annual turnover of less than £700k. In terms of energy, businesses are classed as micro-business if they use under 100,000 kWh of electricity and 293,000 kWh of gas per year.
The average cost of energy
On average it is found that a micro business will usually consume between 5,000 -15,000 kWh of gas and electricity each year. So on average, this would mean that a micro business could averagely expect to pay somewhere between £1000 - £2000 for their annual gas bills and between £1,500- £3,800 for their electricity annually. These figures will also depend on other business factors and usage.
Energy support
If your business qualifies as a micro business, there is extra protection that has been put in place by Ofgem, which suppliers must adhere to. This includes:
- Give you the key terms of the energy plan before you agree and sign.
- Send you the contract plus terms and conditions within 10 days, which must include renewal terms for fixed plans.
- Include contract end dates and the latest date you can give the notice to terminate your bill.
When your contract is up for renewal your energy supplier should also:
- Remind you of your options, at least 60 days before your contract end date. This should include your current rates and any new rates offered.
- To cancel as a micro business you should do this while your current contract has at least 30 days on the contract.
At resolve, we work with a number of micro-businesses. We always ensure that in particular, these businesses are being treated fairly by any suppliers that we may sign them with. We not only ensure this before the contract is signed but we also offer support to our customers throughout the duration of their energy bills.
Small and medium businesses (SMEs)
An SME is classified as a business with under 250 employees and an annual turnover of less than £50 million. The amount of energy an SME uses will depend on the size of the business and the type of operations that are run. Most SMEs will use between 15,000 kWh to 65,000 kWh for gas consumption, and around 15,000 kWh to 50,000 kWh for electricity consumption.
The average cost of energy
Depending on the actual size of an SME and business operations, they could pay anywhere between £2,500 to £6000 per year for their gas bills and anywhere between £7000 to £15,000 per year for their electricity bills. Again, these are average figures and will depend on many other factors.
Energy support
All businesses have had support from the government with their energy bills since October 2022. This started off as the Energy Bill Discount Scheme which added a cap to the wholesale rates of gas and electricity to help with high energy bills.
However, this level of support is currently too high for the government to sustain so they will be reducing this from April this year. The new support will be a much lower discount under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme.
Find out more about government support here.
Large businesses
Any business with over 250 employees or an annual turnover of anything over £50 million is considered to be a large business. Large businesses will also use over 65,000 kWh of gas and over 55,000 kWh of electricity per year.
The average cost of energy
A large business that uses upwards of 65,000 kWh of gas annually could be paying on average £7,800 and upwards for their gas bills. With an electricity usage of 55,000 kWh upwards these businesses could be on average paying around £18,000 for their annual electricity bills.
Energy support
Large businesses can also take advantage of government support. All businesses no matter their size will be eligible for the Energy Bill Discount Scheme.
This new support scheme does also offer a higher level of support depending on what organisation they are. If your business is classed as energy or trade intensive could also be eligible for the ETII scheme, which is extra support for energy inessive users. See if your business could be eligible for a higher level of support here.
If you're looking to save money on your energy bills then why not get in touch today? The relationships Resolve Energy has developed with over 24 of the UK’s biggest business energy suppliers allows our energy experts to source the best business energy rates available for your company right when you need them. Request a free quote today and start saving money on your energy.
