Here’s why so many UK businesses are turning away from energy suppliers, and choosing to install their own renewable source of energy on-site instead.
Energy Price Uncertainty is Worse than Simple ‘High Costs’
It’s one thing for electricity prices to be significantly higher than we are used to – higher than we know energy should be, based on decades of past experiences. But it’s another thing altogether to have no idea where the limit is.
The energy price cap doesn’t offer much assurance, since it changes so often and is intrinsically tied to the global wholesale market. In February of this year, almost 30% of UK businesses admitted that they were struggling to pay their energy bills, and the landscape hasn’t improved since then. Manufacturers in particular are growing increasingly concerned about the pressures of energy costs, but it’s a concern felt across the entire private sector.
Now, in the shadow of NESO’s Energy Margin notice, with warnings of further periods of extreme weather lying in wait for the UK, many businesses are finding that the uncertainty and lack of clarity for the future is worse than the current number on the bill.
The best (and only) long-term solution is to invest money sooner rather than later into solar panel installation, with sufficient battery storage to ensure that business continuity doesn’t drain margins in the years to come. Solar is the most effective way to reduce reliance on the national grid and, with it, the global fossil fuel economy.
But it’s Not Just About Rising Energy Costs
Cost is one thing, continuity is another. As mentioned above, NESO warned of a potential problem this summer when energy demand seems to be climbing above what was actually available. In the end, the country remained within the margins and no shortages were felt, but it was a close enough call as to sound the warning bell for many businesses, whether they rely on electricity to keep production running, or simply keep the lights and computers on.
Even if you’re prepared to reckon with rising energy bills, that’s no guarantee that the seasons to come won’t bring disruption to the supply chain itself.
Downtime can cost thousands per day, if not more, and having no plan B in place in case of seasonal outages is a monumental mistake in this day and age. In the coming years, the gap between companies who did and didn’t invest will grow wider, and it will be harder to keep up.
Compliance is Only Going to Get Stricter
The net is slowly closing on businesses and commercial premises that aren’t investing enough resources into reducing their carbon footprints. While, right now, businesses aren’t required to source energy from renewable sources, there’s no telling how quickly the government will shift the goalposts in the coming years.
It’s far better to act now, with the time and resources to invest in a system that can last you many, many years to come with relatively minimal maintenance, than to wait until the eleventh hour.
