Written by Jonny Williamson
In a time when three quarters of businesses see increased energy costs as a major concern for future overheads, many are still failing to make the necessary changes to lower their operational outlay.
Those that have made simple changes, such as tuning boilers, installing adequate insulation and turning off lights or equipment when not in use, have seen their annual bills fall by almost 20 percent.
The research comes in the wake of British Gas launching their ‘Business Energy Insight’ in February, an initiative to make manufacturers more aware of the energy they are consuming and various methods of how to reduce expenditure. The program utilises ‘smart meters’, a service which allows businesses to see their energy usage, with over 200,000 so far installed in the UK, a figure thought to double by the end of 2012.
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Though the number seems high, to date less than a third of all UK manufactures and businesses have elected to have the smart meters installed.
By choosing to install a smart meter, businesses eliminate the difficulties caused by estimated bills and have 24 hour access to an online service showing hourly, weekly and monthly energy usage, as well as support from specially trained energy-saving executives and a range of other tools to reduce unnecessary cost.
Managing Director of SME Energy, British Gas Business, Marc England, says of the initiative:
“Our business customers tell us that controlling costs is their number one priority, and we recognise that energy costs are a big part of this. Smart meters can play a vital role in saving businesses time and money by allowing them to pay for the energy use as they use it and by giving them the information needed to reduce their consumption.”
For more information on the British Gas research or their Business Energy Insight, visit:
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