If your business is a large energy user spending more than $2,500 per month or more in electricity costs (equating to around 160 MWh hours per year or more in consumption), it is likely you would benefit from speaking with a professional energy brokering service such as MIC Energy Brokers
Here are the top reasons to use an energy broker:
1. Ensure your rates are competitive
The key reason our clients engage us is to ensure they are not overpaying on their energy rates, relative to current market prices. We monitor the energy price market daily and watch for fluctuation drivers such as policy updates, power stations shutting down, and regional weather impacts.
Apart from an informed approach to the timing of your large market energy contract, it is important that you have an energy broker who works with you to understand your business needs, as each energy procurement contract is bespoke to you and your business. Once these are established the energy broker will go to market to multiple retailers who will compete to provide you competitive commercial energy rates.
2. Take the confusion out energy costs
Energy pricing can be confusing, and misunderstanding your bills can become a costly mistake over the life of a large and lengthy retailer contract. When you engage MIC Energy Brokers your account manager will be happy to explain how your energy bills work and the steps we take to find you a competitive rate and contract terms through our tendering process.
3. Save time
Energy brokers do the difficult and time consuming work of energy procurement and contract management for you.\ As experts in the field, energy brokers can perform market analysis and manage the procurement process much more efficiently than someone in your organisation who only thinks about energy costs a few times a year.
4. Stay on top of your contract
When you engage MIC Energy Brokers to help with your energy contract, we’ll keep on top of your next contract renewal date, ensuring you don’t default to a non-competitive rate with your incumbent retailer.
5. Network Tariff Reviews
Tariffs are set by your network distributor and often change annually. It is unlikely that your retailer will proactively review these charges and, in some circumstances, a one-off event that increases your demand/load could increase your Network Tariff charges which can result in you ending up on the wrong tariff and overpaying. MIC Energy Brokers will review your Network Tariff’s annually to ensure that you aren’t being charged too much.
6. Bill validation
Have you sat down to check that your bills are correct? An energy broker can provide a bill validation service to ensure your are correctly being billed.
7. Multi-Site Experts
If you have a business with multiple energy sites, you know how much work it is to manage these, as Multi-Site specialists we manage your portfolio as well as ensuring you are on competitive rates.
8. Green Energy Solutions
Green energy is becoming a priority for many businesses, the MIC Energy Broker team can assist with corporate PPA’s or carbon offset plans.
9. Not just brokers, but energy experts
The advice we provide extends to more than just tendering your energy account to different retailers. We monitor the wholesale electricity market constantly, and will advise on the best strategies to optimise your contract timing and approach tendering based on your business energy needs.
Find out more for free
Our tendering service for commercial and industrial customer is completely obligation free for your business. Get a call back from an energy specialist in our team to find out how we can help your business manage your energy procurement to save you both time & money.
Many business owners are often on the wrong energy deals for their business due to a lack of understand of their bills and their business’s energy requirements. The first thing to do to combat this is to better understand your gas and electricity bills.
Kilowatt Hours and MegaJoules
Your electricity usage is measured in Kilowatt Hours (KWh) and your gas will be measured in MegaJoules (Mj). To come up with the right level of kWh and Mj usage on your bill, your supplier will take your last, lower meter reading away from the current meter reading, providing you with a usage amount for that period. Sometimes, the kWh usage will be converted to MWh (Megawatt hours) – simply, there are 1,000 kWh in one MWh.
Billing period
For a typical medium sized business, using between 20,000 and 160,000 kWh you are likely to be billed quarterly, but you may receive a monthly bill. For any business using more than 160,000 (160MWh), you will be billed monthly.
Usage breakdown
Most of the time, your usage is not charged back to you at a flat rate. Suppliers often create tiers of usage, and therefore tiers of pricing. You may be charged a low $ per kWh for the first 4,000 kWh of usage in a year, and then significantly higher price for the remaining usage. This means that it’s not good enough to accept a set of prices, and take the suppliers word that it’s cheaper. Our advice is to always calculate what a typical bill will be with the new prices compared to the old to properly assess how competitive or otherwise the deal is.
Peak vs. off-peak
Coupled with the usage breakdown, your kWh charges could also vary depending on the time of day you use the electricity. Simply put, using electricity at 4pm on a weekday could be much more expensive than 4pm at the weekend, not to mentioned charges being a lot cheaper at 4am in the morning.
Daily charges
You will always have a daily charge for the provision of electricity and gas to your business. These costs can vary massively between suppliers, especially when some supplier may look to re-coup margin through these charges not typically scrutinised by a business owner.
Discounts
You may find that you have certain discounts on your business energy bills – they typically come in two forms:
Pay on time: paying your bill within 10 days of receipt.
Contract term discount: by committing to a supplier for 2 or 3 years, you may be offered additional discounts. In fact, if a supplier wants you to be a ‘loyal’ customer and give up your freedom to change suppliers for a period of time, we’d always recommend looking for an attractive discount incentive.
How are my energy bills calculated?
For each unit – Mj or KWh – of usage, every supplier has a specific charge. These charges will vary depending on the total amount of energy you use during the course of a year. There are even some charges that apply depending on the time of day you use your electricity or gas, whether you’re a business or home user. Keep in mind charges fluctuate, there are no pre-paid plans or electricity cap rates.
Switch and Save with Make It Cheaper
We work with leading retailers to find you a competitive deal for your business, then do all the legwork on the spot so you start saving, fast. Get in touch with Make It Cheaper today for a free energy review.
Looking to save on your business energy bill?
We find savings for 4 out of 5 businesses. See how much your business could save.
Whatever your workforce size, business type or location it can be difficult to decide when exactly is the right time to look at switching your energy supplier. Here are a few times when it’s ideal for businesses to look at switching gas or electricity suppliers.
Moving Business Premises
A workplace move can be both a daunting yet exciting task for your business. If a move is on the horizon it’s a good idea to look into your switching options as early as possible to ensure you have gas and electricity available on the day that you move in to your new premises.
If you’re moving far to your new workplace, the suppliers available to you may change, so this is a great time to look into switching your energy supplier. A new energy supplier may be available to you with much better rates than you are currently paying. If you are moving to a larger building due to expansion, it is likely that your energy usage will also expand and whilst your current energy tariff may be suitable for your lower energy consumption, it may incur increased fees for your expanding usage.
At The End Of Your Current Energy Contract
If your current business energy contract is due for renewal now is a perfect time to look into what switching options you have available once your contract is finished. Chances are that if you let your current energy contract roll over for another year, you will be placed on the retailer’s standard tariff, rather than one tailored for your own energy usage needs. This could lead to a larger bill, so it is important to look at changing your business energy supplier when your contract is coming up to renewal.
Checking That You’re Getting The Best Deal
If you’re looking over your business finances to ensure outgoings are as low as possible then doing a comparison on energy costs can be a great place to start. Although if you’re still in contract with your current supplier and decide to switch, cancellation fees may apply. If you’re a business looking to switch energy providers and get a better deal why not visit our contact us page to get in touch and see how we can help your business. We look forward to hearing from you.
Looking to save on your business energy bill?
We find savings for 4 out of 5 businesses. See how much your business could save.
We get it. For any business, the EOFY can be stressful. It sneaks up on you and, before you know it, the deadline is days away and your records are all over the place. You weren’t prepared.
Not this year though. If you remember these three simple steps, Make It Cheaper can help your business not only keep up to date with the legal and financial obligations of this time of year, but minimise your outgoings moving forward. With a million things to consider, it is important to maintain focus and prioritise the important stuff. Follow these steps and Make It Cheaper will keep your business on the right financial track.
1. Check what you need
The tax landscape is subject to change, and just because you paid a certain amount last year does not mean you will pay the same this year. Check for any tax changes, and consult your financial adviser if you have any questions. Aussie businesses can also be targeted in tax scams at this time of year, so watch out for any suspicious emails or text messages claiming you have overpaid or underpaid on your taxes.
Checking what you need also includes your insurance policies. Does your current policy still cover you? Are you on a competitive insurance rate? Have your circumstances changed in the last year? Going over your records for the last year will also help you recognise which expenses you can claim as business deductions at the EOFY.
2. Organise your records
Now that you know what you need, it is time to organise what you have. Keep on top of your bookkeeping and ensure that all records are up to date. Remember that all businesses MUST keep a record of all financial transactions, along with any supporting documentation. Make digital copies of all physical records you have to back them up. Once you have these, it can also be hugely beneficial to keep a summary that details all income and expenses. Make sure that any data relating to customers or clients is secure, organised, and easily accessible.
Reviewing all of your financial transactions might also help you understand if there are any operational or CAPEX cashflow challenges. Is it time to consider a loan to help your business get to the next level?
Putting a structure in place and keeping order will make it easier to address the upcoming, and any future, EOFY.
3. Get a FREE energy comparison
If you have organised what you currently have, it is time to look at what you could have. The EOFY is a great time to take stock of your assets and analyse if aspects of your business could either be streamlined or improved. These changes could be wholesale –such as restructuring or redesigning the business- or subtle –like cutting some unnecessary expenditure. Regularly reviewing your business is a great way to keep on track and ensure you reach your targets.
Any review of your SME should include the energy contract. Energy costs are regularly forgotten, but are a major financial drain. Check Make It Cheaper’s free energy comparison service to see if your business is paying too much for your energy contract. Just as the tax landscape is subject to change, so too is gas and electricity. A lot of these changes fly under the radar, so check our free energy comparison service now for any EOFY energy deals and minimise your energy costs.
There’s a lot of debate about whether it’s better to flick off the switch or leave lights running when you leave a room. A debate that’s particularly of interest if you regularly compare electricity and gas prices – or are looking into electricity plans with the hope of finding the best electricity deals.
Some say turning off lights lowers what you’re charged from your electricity plan, while others argue the energy consumed when they start up means you’re better off leaving them on.
It turns out the answer to this question depends on the bulb used, so here’s a breakdown explaining which lights are best left on, or off. And how that might affect your electricity plan from utility providers.
Incandescent lights
These older lights are the most costly and inefficient on the market, so they should always be switched off when you’re not using them. What’s more, they’re probably the type you should avoid altogether if you’re counting the figures on your electricity plan.
Only 10 per cent of the energy they emit transfers to light, while the other 90 per cent converts to heat. Plus, they don’t need any extra time to hit maximum brightness, so there is no initial surge of power needed. This means you don’t have to worry about switching them off. This won’t impact your bill – so go right ahead.
CFLs
Compact fluorescent lights, despite being more energy efficient, are often believed to use more energy upon start up than other lights.
So, should you switch them off when you exit a room? Would it impact the bills you get from electricity retailers and power providers? Let’s find out.
The actual cost of turning one on is minimal – as the inrush current only lasts 1/120th of a second. This uses the same amount of electricity as only a few seconds of normal operation.
Put simply, turning these lights on and off won’t affect your energy bill from utility providers and electricity companies that much. Just remember, these types of bulbs have an operating life. This means their lifespan can be extended by reducing the amount of times you switch them on and off.
Therefore, the best way to ensure you get the most out of your CFL lighting is to turn them off if you plan on leaving the room for more than 15 minutes. Otherwise, you can leave them glowing.
LED lighting
One of the simplest ways to cut energy costs is to upgrade to LED lights. According to Energy Makeovers, Australia’s most trusted energy efficient experts, upgrading old lights to LEDs can decrease your energy bills by as much as 85%.
This type of lighting is energy efficient and has a long operating life, so you can get away with switching these lights on and off as you like – without having to worry about electricity prices and whether it’s worth the leap to actually change electricity providers.
LED lights also turn on with no delay and instantly hit full brightness –so you can flick them off when you leave a room without any concerns. Rest assured, your utility provider won’t hit you with a nasty surprise for doing so. Your electricity plan and it’s pricing is pretty safe.
These bulbs are also less likely to break – as they don’t have a fuse or any glass components, meaning they can handle vibrations.
If you’re concerned about rising electricity prices, changing your light bulbs to more energy efficient models may help you reduce the amount you pay to energy suppliers, because around 11 per cent of your bill goes towards keeping your house lit.
If you’re looking for more ways to reduce your energy consumption, check out Energy Makeovers site for more tips. Since its inception, Energy Makeovers have helped over 250,000 Australian households and business owners save over $45million in reduced electricity costs and are always happy to offer advice to consumers looking for ways to reduce their power consumption.
Get a free energy review
Still concerned? Make it Cheaper can help you compare power and gas, and even switch utility providers should we find you better electricity deals. We’ll connect you with the best electricity providers and best electricity prices so you can sleep soundly (no matter whether the light is on, or off!).
To find out how much you could save on your energy bill call us on 1300 957 721
Looking to save on your business energy bill?
We find savings for 4 out of 5 businesses. See how much your business could save.
