Business Electricity is something that has become all the more important it today’s economic climate. With pressures being all the more prevalent, the more money business can save on their outgoings the more they have to spend on enhancing their operations. Luckily, there are services such as the one right here at All About Savings which can help to alleviate these pressures by finding you the very best suppliers in the United Kingdom. Our service is particularly useful for small and medium sized businesses.

Of course, saving money is of paramount importance to any business. Needlessly throwing money on business electricity is far from prudent and will ultimately end up in reduced profit margins and potentially a failed business model.

The fully comprehensive and totally free of charge All About Savings service has already helped thousands of UK businesses to save money on their business electricity. Our team of unrivalled and seasoned business energy professionals have what it takes to save you even four figures sums on your utilities due to their experience and expertise. We fully understand that just running your business is a big enough job and unless you want to burn the midnight oil, you just will not have time to spend scouring the web for the most suitable business electricity providers.

Business electricity prices are rarely out of the news lately, with some of the big six suppliers and even some of the smaller ones getting some less than savoury press for their ever rising price increases and therefore, profit margins. It is our quest here at All About Savings to ensure that your business is on the very best business electricity tariff.

Not only is our service the best that you will find on the web in the United Kingdom, but it is totally free of charge. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? We simply want to find your business the very best tariff when it comes to business electricity.

If you think you need to save money on your business electricity but just can’t find the time or aren’t really sure where to start then all you need to do is fill in the easy to use quote form right here at All About Savings. One of our advisors is ready and waiting to take your call and will be only too happy to help.

The UK Energy Watchdog Ofgem has today announced a record breaking £10.5 million pound fine for energy supplier SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy PLC) for miss-selling both Gas & Electricity. This is the biggest fine every issued by Ofgem towards an energy company for mis-selling energy products.

The official statement that has been issued by Ofgem said that SSE was guilty of extensive miss-selling on telephone, door to door and store sales due to prolonged management failures, in response to this Scottish & Southern Energy PLC has apologised to its customers and has said that they are “deeply regretful”.

All About Savings has learned that one of Scottish & Southern’s directors, Alan Young, has said that the energy firm was “very sorry” and the company has sent out close to a million letters to existing customers making them aware of the situation and has to date paid out close to £400,000 in compensation.

Unfortunately the fine that SSE has received for mis-selling may not be the last fine to hit an energy company this year as E.on, Scottish Power and Npower are all under investigation by Ofgem. As always the team at All About Savings will keep you posted on the latest updates so please make sure you keep checking our Utility News blog.

A major development has taken place with regard to the next generation of nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom. The coalition government has rubber stamped proposals for the very first power plant of its kind in eighteen years, to be built in Somerset.

The government gave EDF permission for the £14billion project to build what will become known as Hinkley Point C in the West Country. Energy secretary Ed Davey signed a Development Consent Order for the project.

“Today is an iconic day for the company and for the teams which have done so well over the last three years to get us to where we are today” stated EDF’s UK boss Vincent De Rivaz.

This said, the company still faces one final hurdle. An agreement over the price it can charge for the energy it produces is still to be ratified and could turn out to be a stumbling block for several parties

Negotiations with the Government have been going on since early 2012 and EDF is keen to finish these sooner rather than later so it can move on with construction and really get the project cooking with gas, excuse the pun.

These negotiations are set to conclude in around a months’ time, with De Rivaz saying talks were ‘intense’.

Remember to keep a close eye on the All About Savings energy blog for all the exciting developments regarding this story and everything else taking place in the business gas and business electricity sector.

If you are a business in the United Kingdom that uses a substantial amount of gas or electricity, you will no doubt be aware that the way we use many of these utilities is changing. As the United Kingdom’s favourite destination for price comparison, news and advice, All About Savings has put this neat little article together for you to help you make some sense of what can be a baffling issue. We know that you are busy enough trying to guide your business out of a recession, so read on and why not take advantage of our price comparison service while you’re here?

The demand for electricity in this country is expected to double by 2050 as we move towards electric heating and transport, but despite this many power plants across the UK seem to be closing.

The much coveted EMR has been put in place in order to attract £110 billion of investment. This is what is needed to sufficiently upgrade and expand the nation’s energy infrastructure. It is hoped that this will secure energy for years to come and also make sure that we are adhering to emission obligations and promote the widespread use of renewables.

The Energy Bill:

• Contracts for Difference, to provide ‘stable and predictable’ incentives for companies to invest in low-carbon generation.
• Investment Instruments – to generate investment before Contracts for Different come into place.
• Capacity Market – to safeguard electricity for the future.
• Conflicts of Interest and Contingency Arrangements
• Renewables Transitional – transition arrangements for investments under the renewables obligation scheme.
• Emissions Performance Standard – to limit emissions from new fossil fuel power stations.

New Strategy & Policy Statement (SPS)
The purpose of the SPS is to improve things at a regulatory level and ensure that the government and Ofgem are working to the same strategy. The legislature also lays down the roles and responsibilities of the government, Ofgem and any other relevant organisations.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR)
As the name suggests, this legislature looks to regulate the nuclear power industry. This will regulate the safety and security of all future power plants such as the first new complex in nearly two decades – to be built in Somerset. The ONR really emphasises the government’s commitment to nuclear energy as a formidable source in the United Kingdom.

Is There Anything Missing from the Energy Bill?
Interestingly, energy efficiency seems to be missing from the energy bill. There is nothing in the draft to do with cutting our current levels of energy usage. There is also less of a focus on renewable energy, with gas and nuclear being the focal point of the Bill.

It appears that it isn’t all good news for big energy suppliers lining their profits, as Eon have revealed that their UK profits dropped by a third last year. The firm have been battling to improve their customer service and appease frustrated customers but it seems this has been to no avail.

Overall, their profits fell 42 per cent year-on-year to £591 million in 2012. This is unlikely to have been helped by the sale of a stake in Corby power station in 2011 as well as the lower production from North Sea wells.

There was some cause for optimism for the business energy supplier as retail fared slightly better. Ebitda dropped just 18 per cent to £235 million. This has been attributed to the absence of income from the regulated Central Networks as these were sold in April 2011. Lower business sales volumes and higher costs form regulatory obligations will have contributed to this dip. Their customer numbers have remained fairly constant but the recession and steady billings will have piled the pressure on Eon who burst into the market several years ago but have failed to make much progress of late.

“We still have a long way to go in terms of how we’d like our customers to view us,” he said, but “I’m heartened by the progress we’ve made by doing things differently.” said Eon UK chief executive Tony Cocker.

Although UK results dipped, Eon groups Ebitda rose 16 per cent to €10.8 billion. It is thought that their expansion into Russia, renewable and oil exploration reportedly went some way to offset their declining performance in the United Kingdom market. The company has also entered Turkish and Brazilian markets of late which could see their fortuned improve during 2013.

As always, All About Savings will be keeping track on Eon’s performance and all other developments regarding this story.

The goings on at Drax Power Station in Yorkshire really is the perfect microcosm for what it occurring in the energy market in this country as a whole. As one of the largest and best run power stations in the country, the 1000ft flue chimney is also the highest in the UK and for this reason it dominates are large proportion of the Eastern Yorkshire countryside.

Drax burns 36,000 tons of coal every day of the week which in brought to the site by 140 coal trains every week. Of all the electricity used in Britain, this site accounts for a significant 7 per cent. This is enough energy to light up many of the major cities in the United Kingdom.

However, a change to EU rules has meant that Drax is being forced to undergo some serious changes. This has astonished many of the individuals that helped to build the plant back in the 1970’s right next to the infamous Selby coalfield. Drax is about to set off on a £700 million switch away from the burning of coal and adopt wooden chips instead. These chips will mostly come from the United States of America.

Energy Watchdogs Predict that Fuel Bills in the United Kingdom will Continue to Soar: Latest Green Targets Could Mean 1970’s Style Power Blackouts…
Many believe that the latest obsession with climate change has made the met office something of a menace. Despite many highlighting that global warming is getting worse and worse, four out of the last five British winters have actually been colder than average.

The Drax plant has decided to make this costly decision because they have been earmarked as a key component in the so called green revolution. Coal has now been labelled as a filthy energy resource spurring the plant to switch to this wooden alternative.

The truth remains, though, that coal is still by far the cheapest means of creating electricity. But the Government is so committed to meeting its own and the EU’s targets for reducing Britain’s ‘carbon emissions’ that it is now going flat out to tackle the problem on two fronts — both of which forced the changes at Drax.

In less than three weeks’ time, a brand new carbon tax will be introduced and applied to every ton of carbon dioxide that is produced as a result of electricity production. This tax will start on fairly low level and rise on an annual basis. It is thought that within two decades, the cost of producing electricity will have doubled and therefore become an obsolete method.

In addition to this, the government has vowed to boost any means of producing electricity that is deemed to be carbon neutral. These methods include wind farms, nuclear power and biomass burning.

The Government: Tackling the Problem
Having done their sums, the experts at Drax realised that if they stayed with coal, they would gradually be priced out of what is becoming a hugely competitive market due to the carbon tax.

By looking further into this matter, the team here at All About Savings can’t help thinking that this Drax deal is complete lunacy. For one thing, some of the environmentalists who are normally most fanatically in favour of ‘renewable’ power are among those most strongly opposed to the burning of wood so the concept looks to be a little contradictory.

Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups are emphatically against the idea that wood chips are ‘carbon neutral’. This is also not helped by the fact that this method results in the felling of millions of acres of American forests. This is required in order to turn trees into chips and there is also the matter of distributing these all the way to Yorkshire.

Indeed, the trees must first be felled and then turned into wood chips in two dedicated plants that Drax is building in the USA.

What’s more, before being pulverised into powder ready for use, the chips must be stored in giant purpose-built containers where they need to be humidified in order to prevent spontaneous combustion. In regards to combustion, this method is 1000 times more risky than coal.

Many fires have resulted in plants across the world due to this energy method…
This issue is hardly good news for and business or domestic electricity users. Consumers have already seen bills go up by over £1 billion a year due to the subsidy of wind farms.

When Drax has completed this conversion to biomass it will be capable of generating 3,500 megawatts, both reliably and continuously.  This contributes more than a quarter of the EU target for the use of renewable energy as a whole.

In theory, by gradually switching to wood or ‘biomass’ as it is officially known. The Drax plant will eventually save millions of tons of CO2 from being plunged into the vulnerable atmosphere.

Recent research has shown that the biggest energy firms received in excess of 1.4 million complaints from their customers during the final quarter of last year…

The statistics underline the fact there are more than 100,000 complaints a week being sent to the big six energy firms every week, this totals over 5 million disgruntled customers in total.

The findings have come about following Ofgem’s demand for such companies to provide far more transparent data with regards to performance. This has in turn led companies such as All About Savings to demand that positive action is taken.

The most complained about energy firm was EDF, who reported 440,317 unhappy paying customers over the three month period in question. These equates to 8,072 people complaining out of every 100,000.

British Gas did not fare too well either, revealing that they received 355,998 complaints during the same last quarter of the year. This is 2,285 per 100,000 customers. The next worst performers were E.ON and nPower – in that order.

The happiest energy customers in the land belong to Scottish Power who recorded just 71,042 complaints – this translates to 1,359 unhappy customers per 100,000 which is significantly better than the rest of the big six.

In previous years, the big energy suppliers were only required to publish how many complaints were left unresolved at the end of a business day but the recent revamp has seen far more useful data materialise. A common format for all companies to adhere to has also been sent out by Ofgem.

Although this information is very useful, the likes of Ofgem and All About Savings are quick to point out that there are some flaws in the data. For example, some of the energy suppliers have previously submitted data for one or more of the previous quarters. So although some figures may look very negative, they could represent progress. Factors such as the wintry weather and metering issues could also have had an effect as well as the geographical location of some customers.

Jo Brookes from All About Savings stated; “Some companies are publishing figures which make them look quite bad but it is worth bearing in mind that some of them may well have taken on extra staff to remedy this. These changes may well take time to have an effect so it may be prudent to take some time to assess this before making any rash decisions regarding your energy bills. The team here at All About Savings are here to assist any business in the United Kingdom with this very important decision.”

Some companies will now be responding to this survey in order to improve their service to customers. In time there will be some indication of what changes are made and exactly what effect they have.

The regulator Ofgem has pointed out that all data should be no more than two clicks away from any supplier website’s homepage so that business or individual customers can make the most informed decision.

It isn’t just households that are being hit by the economic downturn, as gas and electricity prices are contributing to the strife of many businesses across the United Kingdom.

Business utilities are something that a lot of people overlook when they think about the outgoings a small, medium or large businesses need to adhere to. These utilities continue to soar but luckily sites such as All About Savings can offer a vital comparison and advice service that can help companies of all size to save considerable money.

The consumer index according to the Bank of England stood at 2.7 per cent for the third successive month in January and this also has an impact on businesses who pay a great deal for things such as business electricity and other utilities. These figures are well above the Monetary Policy Committee’s target of 2 per cent.

The impact of the hikes from the energy suppliers known as the big six are still being felt nationwide and it has meant that sites such as All About Savings have become all the more fundamental to any company in the United Kingdom.  Indeed, these increases have put yet more pressure on businesses and meant that they have less money to spend on other vital things such as operations and furthering their brands.

It has been noted by many industry experts that 2013 has actually started the way that 2012 ended, badly for anyone paying a lot for their electricity and gas bills. There are options available for any business in this position.

To find out more, just take a look around the All About Savings business electricity section. This details just how businesses can save a great deal of money and even compare the very best prices in the United Kingdom.

British Gas are attempting to save face during this time of ever rising energy costs by the sudden departure of Phil Bentley, the Managing Director, who was in charge during this Winter’s 6% bill increase.  But with his £3.6 million pension, a years’ salary worth roughly £635,000 and his shares worth £6.65million leaving with him, it is a hefty amount of money for Centrica, British Gas’ parent company, to spend at this time of national uncertainty.

This £10million+ payout comes at a time when the Prime Minister has openly expressed a desire to tackle these ever growing prices during Prime Minister’s Questions during which David Cameron was quoted as saying “I can announce that we will be legislating so that energy companies have to give the lowest tariff to their customers.”  Although Energy Minister John Hayes has since admitted to knowing nothing about this declaration prior to the programmes’ airing, and with Downing Street initially refusing to comment on whether or not the plan would in fact be used in the latest Energy Bill, Mr Cameron simply confirmed that he is “…on the side of hard pressed, hard working families who often struggle to pay energy bills.”   Now, after this initial confusion, the outcome which has been reached will force energy companies to limit their tariffs to just four for electricity and gas.  This means that customers should in theory find it far simpler to choose the best tariff for their household requirements instead of continuing to pay above and beyond what is necessary simply through confusion due to the seemingly endless tariff options on offer.

Unfortunately this new bill has also allowed energy companies to continue with their price rises, but at least with an end goal of lower emissions and naturally occurring and cheaper, energy sources in mind.  The energy companies claim that the price hikes are due to the upgrading of the UK’s energy grid’s and the higher wholesale prices for low-carbon alternatives for gas and electricity.   The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), who advise and support the government on how to reach their lower emissions target which is to be assessed and achieved by 2020 and 2050 with five year carbon budgets to be attained throughout the process, have estimated that in order for the energy companies to achieve their own low carbon objectives, additional charges will add up to roughly £110 extra for an average household by 2020.

According to a poll of 2000 households for Ovo Engery and created by OnePoll, over one third of homes are now rationing power.  Worryingly, the bill increases, both short and long term, also mean that more and more households are going into fuel poverty which is defined as more than 10% of the annual household income going toward heating.   Estimates have shown that every 1% of the 6% increase in energy prices equates to around 40,000 extra homes being pushed into fuel poverty and that there are now roughly 2.7million homes in England that are deemed to be ‘fuel-poor’.

Centrica are soon to announce the outcome of their strategic review as well as the annual results, with after-tax profits thought to exceed £1.4 billon.  What they have so far failed to announce are the reasons behind the sudden departure of their former MD Phil Bentley with an refusal to comment on the situation.  With Bentley having been at the helm of Centrica and British Gas’ cost increases this winter, it could be concluded that they are attempting to stem the growing tension and disquiet amongst their customers over their prices before they lose them altogether.

Centrica claim that they hold at the heart of their business the ‘ambition…to be the most trusted energy company”, believing a “principled approach to doing business wins the trust of customers…”  (Centrica Annual Report 2010). 

With all these extra costs and requirements being added to the basic energy used, we as a nation can only hope that the Prime Minster’s latest cut in the number of tariffs on offer to customers will provide small savings by allowing us to easily decide for ourselves which is the most appropriate for our needs.  Choosing a fixed price tariff is also a good way to make a saving over the life of the tariff.  Aside from that, it would seem that the cost is only going to continue climbing for the forseeable future.

It has been suggested that businesses look around for the best energy prices around and lock down on the best deal before prices increase even more in 2013. Lock downs can be found for 1, 2 and even 3 year deals and whilst the savings may not be instantly apparent, over the full term of the deal businesses will find that they are better off than those who did not choose to lock the price of their energy. At times like this, where the economy is suffering, it is important to have a long-term money saving goal in mind.

Five of the Big Six energy companies have now upped their prices, the most recent of which being Scottish Power who increased their commercial energy prices by 6%. E.ON are the last in line and with promises to save their price increase until April 2013, so it is worth starting the hunt for the best deal sooner rather than later.

The official forecasts for the Treasury, published by the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts there to be a further hike in energy bills next year, as much as 5%, due to the suppliers upping the costs of wholesale prices for oil and gas. This could spell bad news for businesses who are struggling to keep their heads above water in times of recession as it is. They need to study long-term cost effectiveness in everything from gas and electricity to telecoms usage. All About Savings can help with this by simply doing the search for them.Customers now have the freedom to choose the supplier they want each year. The ideal is to find not only the most suitable option for your business, but also cheapest prices available to your company, so comparing the market is crucial.