Yes, it is a new year; we get it by now, so “I shall say this only once” (name the programme), and then I will not repeat it until January 2024…Here goes. Happy New Year to all (and I do mean it).
This blog post will kick start a series of purposeful content that myself and the Perfect Sense Energy team will be creating for you called ‘A Year In Solar’ the point of it is to take you on a mini journey through the world of Industrial Solar Panels, Green Technology, Energy Procurement and everything in between.
We hope this series will give you a rounded understanding of what we do as a business, why we exist, and our positive impact on our customers. We want to pull the back the curtain (not too far and not like The Office) and show you what we do daily to support business growth through our products and services.
We want your input and feedback to tailor our content to suit your need for information, so feel free to email me and tell me what you need to know or just to stop wittering.
Sound good. Okay!
Well, as I have been tasked with the first blog, I thought I’d better make it a good one or at least one that will give you some value. So, before we move forward, let’s take a step back and reflect on some key takeaways from 2022.
2022 at a glance (you can squint for this one)
2022, I think, is best described as tumultuous. Some may say that is the understatement of the decade (we are only just over 20% in, so there is time yet!). We witnessed all-time highs of power and gas prices and prolonged periods of lows within a blink of each other.
2022 has taught us, if nothing else, to prepare for the unexpected, have a plan, and execute it. Failure to act has caused many buses to lose out on hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of savings, or on the other side of the same coin, has caused them hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of additional costs.
We have had a lot of good come out of the year though; the ADR scheme is a welcome addition and a step in the right direction for energy brokers being more regulated. Industrial solar panels and other renewables have arguably never had a better payback. Carbon and all its various accountancies are firmly in the spotlight, with companies ranging from small family businesses to PLC’s equally committed to holding themselves accountable for their carbon footprint and, more importantly, doing something about it too.
Successful Electricity or Gas Procurement
We have had the best success in consolidating a multi-site private school group, going through multiple changes of ownership across a diverse electricity and gas portfolio of 30 campuses. We have aligned the gas and power contract end dates to allow a single unified contract to be delivered, setting the building blocks in place to extend that product suite to their wider community of business and facilities.
Budget certainty and opportunity for cost reduction are key agenda items for this client. As part of the latter of those points, we have begun a rollout of smart meters across their gas and power portfolio. This will allow us to collate all of their usage data in one place, allowing us to help their facilities team identify and assess the effectiveness of energy-saving measures such as industrial solar panels and heating controls.
Are we all still here? Then I shall continue as we leave 2022 and enter 2023.
Positivity from here on out, so below I have outlined five things you can be looking into or should be doing right now to prepare and hopefully future-proof your business for the year to come.
Three things your business should do right now
Coming into 2023 is the time to reassess and take stock, ready for the fresh challenge. As part of that, we would suggest you;
- Review your current energy contract end dates and understand what the cost implications are as of today for when that contract ends.
- Look at your energy data, see if there are any unusual anomalies or have us help and take a look. Identifying a problem early makes it much easier to resolve.
- Rereview any energy efficiency measures that were put on the proverbial shelf, and chances are they are much more appealing now.
Last but not least – What can we expect from 2023?
I do not have a crystal ball, but it is my role to look at market trends and markers indicating how we believe 2023 will go. This is always subject to change, as we are all too aware, but being able to give you a little insight can go a long way.
At the time of writing, the market is in a positive position, with gas and power prices continuing their gradual tumble of late, yet supply contracts have not yet fallen to match.
There is still huge uncertainty in the market of what Asian LNG demand will do to UK gas prices, especially alongside the EU gas price cap. We could have a gentle summer and an incredibly painful winter.
With the revised government Energy Bill Discount Scheme feeling rather like abandonment than support for most, it is again time to redouble focus on not using kWh instead of just paying less for them.
On a serious note. My job within Perfect Sense Energy as Head of Energy Management is to advise you on the best way to use our services and experience to Buy better, Use less and Generate your own (Our company strapline) with the sole purpose of growth and prosperity.
I am real and here, so don’t hesitate to pick up the phone 01942 367 599 and give me a call. Yes, we are busy, but I will make the time, I promise.
Happy New Year….Damm it!
