No one likes paying bills at the best of times. Then, when you factor in the challenges of running a business, all of the current headwind across nearly every sector, and unpredictable times ahead, there has never been a better time to focus on your outgoings.
One of the best places for a small business to save money and reduce their outgoings is their electricity bills. Not only will it mean less money out the door every month, it won’t have any negative impacts on your customers. No corners need to be cut and you will even get some serious wins across the board.
Here are 3 of the best ways you can cut your electricity bills in the short term and slash bills for years to come!
Get Solar
Solar is one of the greatest things you can do as a small business owner to not only reduce your energy bills, but reduce your carbon footprint and increase your autonomy and bill predictably.
Solar works by taking light from the sun, capturing it with the systems solar panels, and converting it into electricity that your business can use. Everything that is wired or plugged in can use your solar power. If the sun is shining, your solar system will be generating electricity.
The two key ways you save money is by using your own clean green energy and not buying off the grid, and then sending any excess power that you don’t use back into the grid for a feed in tariff.
The first element, self-consumption, happens when you consume electricity generated by your solar system rather than burying from the grid. The electricity you generate from solar is much cheaper than buying from the grid, so every kWh consumed yourself is a kWh saved. It is that simple! If you are paying say, $0.30 for every kWh, that means you save $0.30 for every kWh you use. Crunch the numbers over the course of a year and you will see the savings begin to add up quickly.
The second saving element is the feed in tariff you receive for excess electricity sent back to the grid. Realistically, it is very hard to consume 100% of the electricity you generate, 100% of the time. So, when there are times that your usage is less than your generation, your solar system will send the excess back to the grid for someone else to use. You will then be paid a feed in tariff for this which will be paid per kWh sent back in and credited on your next bill.
Feed in Tariffs are always less than the price of buying off the grid for obvious reasons so that is why self-consuming your energy is financially better than sending it back in.
The best part is, the cost of systems is cheaper than ever before, people are becoming more conscious about who they buy from and once installed your business is now powered by green energy and you won’t get any more huge bill shocks!
Get An Energy Monitor
The easiest and cheapest way to get some quick wins is to understand your usage. A lot of the time, small businesses don’t know their energy usage. When they are using electricity and what is using the electricity. An easy way to get on top of your bills and usage is to install an energy monitor.
Energy monitors are cheap, can usually be installed by yourself (no electrician required), and will give you live and historical insights (from when you installed it) so you can start making better decisions.
Things to look at once you have installed it are
- What is using the most power?
- Can it be turned off?
- Why are we using it now?
- If you have solar, can this be run more during the day?
Once you have a few weeks of data that will give you a good base understanding to start making bigger decisions like installing a solar or solar and battery system.
Change Electricity Retailer
When it comes to electricity retailers, loyalty is not rewarded. Switching energy retailers can be one of the best ways you can lower your electricity bill quickly.
Retailers are constantly juggling their prices so whatever you signed up to a year ago, probably isn’t as good of a deal today.
It is important to understand your usage and focus on what matters. For example, if you are a high energy user, the amount you are charged per kWh will have the biggest impact on your bill. However, if you are a low consumer, things like the daily supply charge you are paying will probably be more meaningful.
The best thing when it comes to your energy bill is to be proactive. The more you know and the more you do, the more you will save.
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