Business Energy Consumption Drops as Recession Bites
Recent energy statistics released showed that the recession has hit manufacturing industries the most as electricity consumption plummets in 2009
The latest report and research compiled by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed that electricity supplies to industry fell by 11% from 2008 to 2009 showing just how the recession is hitting businesses in the UK.
Total energy consumption in the UK has been falling gradually over the past 4 years as shown in the graph below:
Electricity Consumption Down Across the Board
As can be seen from the graph on the left the overall consumption of electricity is down for all users.
The good news is that electricity from renewable sources increased by 12.7% although from a small base which means in 2008 5.7% of all electricity was from renewables whilst in 2009 it was 6.8% which is a long way off from the overall government targets.
Electricity from coal fell by 17.5% whilst nuclear electric power grew by some 31.5% over the past 12 months.
Electricity supplied to domestic premises declined by 3.2% where the biggest drop was to industry which was a massive 11% probably brought about from the recession where the simple demand has declined because of lower manufacturing in the country.
Prices have also changed much in the last 12 months with industrial gas prices falling by an average 32% in real terms, industrial electricity prices falling by 17% in real terms with coal prices increasing by 5%.
If you have not felt these price changes in your own energy costs for your business then it’s probably time to review where you are and get quotes to see if there is a cheaper supplier out there whether your are a small business or larger corporation.
Utility costs are of course not the only concern for businesses and this DECC report from the government’s own statistics agency showed that in March 2010 the average price of unleaded petrol was 115.5p per litre which was an increase of 25.4p or a massive 28% increase over the previous year and the diesel price per litre is on average 116.2 in March 2010 which was an increase of 16.3p or 16% over March 2009.
Unfortunately with petrol and diesel most companies don’t have the option of buying cheaper supplies in for their fleet of vans and cars so perhaps now is a time to look at electric vehicles which many bigger businesses are trialing in the larger cities in the UK and many courier companies have already had success with. This is because they get recharged with electricity from the national grid (there are some electric points at garages but not so many at the moment) and they can buy in their electric energy at cheaper prices.
Reducing energy costs for your business
To attempt to take advantage of the lower energy prices for your business you should think about getting quotes on a regular basis and renew your contract each year so you don’t get put onto a rolling contract if yours expires and you haven’t given notice of termination. It’s easy to get quotes and new prices as all the major energy companies have online quoting systems for businesses or you can use the services of an energy broker. Either way, renewing your contract could save you thousands each year. All graphs on this page courtesy of DECC.
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