Monday 19 February 2018

Efficiency inaction ‘could cost businesses £7.4bn’

If UK businesses don’t take action to manage their gas and electricity consumption, they can expect to pay an extra £7.4 billion on their energy costs by 2019.

That's according to a new report from energy consultancy Inenco, which suggests rising non-commodity costs, expensive carbon pricing and a fall in renewable support scheme incentives mean bills are expected to increase by a quarter by 2020.

For example, it says introducing an energy efficiency programme could significantly mitigate cost rises - Inenco suggests a typical retail store could avoid bill increases of £15,486 by doing so, instead limiting the rise to £2,875.

The report claims a large business park unit using around 3GWh of power could lower their cost increase to 9%, totalling an estimated £15,985.

The firm says bills could reach £47,561 by 2019 if clean energy measures are not implemented.