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Have you got the Energy to Save money?
The Past three years have seen year on year increases in gas and electricity prices for many business in the UK. This has hit the hardest by those business that rely on gas and electricity as a main function of their business such as the restaurant trade.
2006 was a particularly a hard year with the wholesale cost of gas going up by over 250% from the start of the year to autumn time.
Any business that came out of contract during that period would have been hit with huge increases, in some cases paying double for their new gas and electricity contract prices.
But why is this and is there any light at the end of the tunnel?
The United Kingdom relies heavily on gas imported from Europe to help "top up" the gas we generate form places like the North Sea. There was a shortage of gas in the UK and the storage facilities for imported gas were not in place to hold the gas we do import.
European gas shippers did not want to be tied to longer fixed term contracts to supply gas to the UK as they could get very good prices on the wholesale market. So simple economics of high demand low supply were one of the factors of prices rising.
The other factors are the energy market follows the oil price closely and this was a time of high oil prices. Around 40% of our electricity in the UK is generated by gas fired power stations so when the price of gas is rising it actually costs us more to generate electricity as well.
There is "light" at the end of the tunnel for business coming in to 2007. In late autumn 2006 a new gas pipeline came on stream from Scandinavia that will provide the UK with plenty of gas. This has started to drive down the wholesale cost of gas and electricity already.
Already we have seen better gas prices being quote by a range of suppliers for new contracts and for the first time in a long time more competitive electricity prices.
To help you find the best deal on your business gas and electricity, Saveonyourbills.co.uk specialise in trawling the energy market to compare a range of energy suppliers for your business and give you the best prices and arrange contracts all for free.
To get the best out of this service here are some tips to ensure you find the best deal.
Top tips to saving money on your business money on their energy bills
> Find out when your contract is due to expire. Some suppliers like British Gas make you give 90 days notice to terminate your contract
> Get a copy of a bill at hand as this has the key information needed to provide a quote
> Get your renewal offer from your current supplier as this is what we need to try and beat
> If or when you do sign a new contract with a cheaper supplier ensure you write and telephone your current supplier to terminate the current contract
> Look at ways to improve the efficiency of the equipment your business uses as this can bring down the bill.
The predictions for 2007 and 2008 is that prices have come down and will hold steady and then 2008 to 2009 we should see a slight increase in wholesale energy prices.
To find out more please visit www.saveonyourbills.co.uk or call 0845 123 5278
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