Commercial Smart Meters:

A business smart meter could change your view forever on your business energy.  With long term commercial electricity costs set to increase, as the economy slowly creeps out of recession, and the impending start of the government’s carbon reduction scheme in April, it’s never been a better time to consider the benefits of smart metering.

Typical  Smart Meter Customer

Smart meters in their simplest format can bring an end to estimated bills for businesses.  Currently commercial energy suppliers are only required to obtain a meter reading once every two years, and if you are unfortunate enough to have an over or under estimate, it could have a serious impact on your business cash flow.

If you have been underestimated you could be asked to pay the outstanding balance immediately, or in some cases you may be required to set up a payment plan.  This could also prevent you from transferring to a different supplier if there was an outstanding debt on your account.

Overpaying during these two years, could mean that the supplier could owe you a considerable sum of money.  This could have been better utilised within the business or earning additional interest, as the supplier will credit any overpayments within a matter of weeks, but they won’t give you any interest on this amount.

To avoid the pain of estimated bills you can always provide your supplier with regular meter readings, or you could replace your current electricity meter with an electricity smart meter.  As well as the benefit of accurate billing you could also benefit from the ability of understanding how your energy has been used and by identifying simple changes companies can often save up to 10% of their energy bills, which would offset the original purchase price.

Smart meter suppliers have recently reported a large increase in smart meter orders this year.  The increase has been attributed to companies preparing for the Carbon Reduction Commitment energy efficiency scheme (CRC), which comes into force next month.

Under the scheme, organisations such as supermarkets, hotels, hospitals, local authorities and central government departments and others that typically spend £500k on electricity, must monitor their energy consumption levels, and then calculate their total carbon emissions. An annual league table will then rank all participants, according to their energy efficiency performance.

The installation of a smart meter which can then provide half hourly reports on your energy consumption levels, will earn businesses extra credits under the CRC scheme, which will assist them in moving up the CRC league table.

Technology has improved and the cost of smart metering has come down again over the last 12-months making it viable for even the smallest of companies.

To learn more about smart meters and how they can benefit your business, contact a member of our business smart metering team today or subscribe for news updates on smart meters here.