During my research for this article I did a search for Business Electricity Prices but was unable to find a simple table that laid out the unit price. Every item offering price comparisons only had forms for you to fill in and then a message saying I would receive a phone call shortly with a package to suit my company.
Obviously they want to use the opportunity to get a sale as a business customer. Yes I did get a phone call and I explained I was trying to find a price for business rates for my article, the sales person sounded down and said he could more easily email the information. Well surprise, surprise, the email still has not come through twenty four hours later.
I then went to look at a specific website of a well known electricity supplier and again could get no general information because I was not a customer and therefore did not have a customer number. Eventually it penetrated my brain that if I needed a customer number the obvious thing to do was to telephone my existing electricity supplier to find out the Business Electricity Prices.
The sales operator told me there was no flat rate across the board because there were variations due to location, size of business, packages etc. He looked at my current domestic bill and stated that he could certainly save us money if we went onto a business tariff. I suggested he worked out a quote for our business to give him something concrete to work from.
I had always assumed that business rates were more expensive than domestic rates but although Business Electricity Prices are different from domestic rates to my surprise I discovered that for us the business rate would be about two pence less per unit than the domestic rate.
However there is a small drawback, on top of the unit rate there is a standing charge of £27.19 per quarter and a Government Climate Change Levi or 0.17 per kwhrs. Also VAT is charged at fifteen per cent although that makes no difference when you claim it back each quarter if you are VAT registered.
All in all it would seem that although they wrap it up in a special package in fact the business rate will work out to be a very similar price to the domestic rate and maybe is not worth bothering about unless you are a large organisation and can negotiate a special deal with the energy suppliers.
I am sure that over the last year the increased expense of Business Electricity Prices for organisations must be putting a huge load on overheads. But then when I look at the amount of electricity being wasted when offices blocks are lit up all night, computers are left on all the time and road lights on all night, it seems right to impose a climate change levee and maybe it should be even more than it is.
Years ago all the street lights went off at 12 midnight which would be an immense saving across the world if they still retained that policy.
