This month sees the relaunch of The Student Energy Project (TSEP), an initiative from the utilitech pioneers behind amber energy, that seeks to enrol the UK’s 660,000 students who live in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in the fight against climate change.*

TSEP is a behaviour change app that enables participating student accommodation providers in the UK to involve their residents in an energy saving initiative that gives back. TSEP is free for students to take part in and enables them to collaboratively reduce their energy consumption and carbon emissions.

TSEP already has 73 accommodation blocks signed up, catering to 14,000 students. 

How does it work?

• Students who live in participating halls of residence simply download the app and register their details,
• The students then work as a collective within each accommodation block to take steps to reduce their energy use, 
• The money that each accommodation block saves on its energy bills as a result of TSEP is put towards verified carbon offsetting projects, such as tree planting or developing clean energy projects in rural Africa.
• All PBSA participants can track their properties’ energy performance and also benchmark their progress against others .

Nick Proctor, founder and CEO of amber energy, which is behind The Student Energy Project, said, “Today’s students are part of the generation that is pushing for real change to tackle the climate crisis. To harness their collective power, we’ve spent a lot of time developing and creating an app that can help students to make a real difference. 

“Now’s the time for a big social experiment where we mobilise communities to act together to save the planet. We believe that by making better choices and decisions around energy, water use and waste, the UK can become home to the world’s greenest student population.”

For more information, and to take part in the challenge, visit: https://www.thestudentenergyproject.com/ 

Pubs, restaurants, supermarkets and banks are just a few of the energy consumers who could save up to 30% on ‘hidden’ energy costs whilst increasing energy efficiency by 10%* thanks to smart use of data produced every 30 minutes.

Businesses that use automated half-hourly electricity meters may be unaware they are being charged by third-party agents, chosen by their energy supplier, to collect and validate energy use.

Eunice Mabey, Energy Optimisation Manager at SSE Enterprise Distributed Energy, said businesses across the UK could enjoy substantial cost and efficiency benefits by having their data services managed on a bespoke basis.

She said: “We are new to this market; and can therefore bring in what we feel is some fresh thinking. Our aim is to modernise commercial energy consumption so that we can best help businesses on their journey to net zero carbon emissions.

“New technology means we can analyse data forensically to create a clear picture of exactly how energy is being used in one building or across an estate every 30 minutes.

“Many businesses are unaware that they can choose their own provider for these data services. By choosing their own advisor, businesses can make significant savings on energy contracts and have the assurance that energy invoices are independently assessed and are more accurate.”

SSE has brought together a specialist team of half hourly market experts to help thousands of SSE sites overcome the hidden cost of default data aggregation.

The new Half Hourly Data Collection and Aggregation service launches this week with bespoke dashboard reporting allowing for easy analysis of electricity data, and proactive data management to ensure accuracy ahead of the industry-wide move into Market Wide Half Hourly Settlement next year following the rollout of Smart meters.

*According to the Carbon Trust, effectively managed energy data can reduce energy usage by up to 10%, saving commercial customers thousands of pounds on their average bills.

For more information on SSE Enterprise’s DC/DA service, visit: https://sseenergyoptimisation.co.uk/our-solutions/business-energy-intelligence/ or contact: hhdataservices@sse.com

By Valpy Fitzgerald, Director of Green Markets at Opus Energy

The fight against climate change has always been a collective effort. But for small or medium-sized business, it can sometimes feel like you’re a small fish in a big pond. Sustainability is important – it’s what your customers and employees want – but how much difference are you really making? Isn’t it the job of the Government and big corporations to make the UK a greener, cleaner and healthier place to live and work?

In truth, it will be near impossible for the UK to achieve its net zero carbon targets by 2050 without widescale buy-in from SMEs. This is because small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMEs) make up 99.9% of the business population. And thanks to their limited size, SMEs are often well positioned to make sustainable changes to their business model.

It’s clear that small businesses’ efforts are essential in the fight against climate change, and in the middle of a pandemic, this statement has never been truer.
Here are just a few more of the reasons why SMEs are primed to lead the UK to a more sustainable future.

They’re the biggest employer in the UK

While individual SMEs have 250 employees or fewer, collectively they are the UK’s biggest employer. At the start of 2019, there were around 5.9 million SMEs in the UK, employing 16.6 million people – 60% of the total employment within the private sector.

As such, SMEs have an instrumental influence on the UK’s workforce. The decisions you take can make a significant contribution to our environment, particularly when it comes to transport; work-related travel accounts for over a third (37%) of total emissions from transport – 24% from commuting, and 13% from travel in the course of business. By supporting your employees to make greener transport choices, or enabling remote working, you can make a real impact on the country’s pollution levels.

Likewise, SMEs are in the perfect position to teach employees about the importance of sustainability. As a smaller company, it’s easier to communicate your vision and purpose with your employees and bring them along on the journey, encouraging them to apply these principles and behaviours, too.

They’re the new change-makers

Prior to COVID-19, bigger was often considered better in business. But now it would seem that the opposite is the case. Far more people chose to shop at local independent stores during lockdown, with up to 80% saying that they would continue to do so from now on. This has created an opportunity for SMEs to become the change-makers of the future, with larger corporations now looking at SMEs as genuine competition.

Consumers are aware of the part they play in bringing communities together and the influence their spending power can have on their external environment. They are now more likely to seek out smaller brands that align with their values, rather than choosing the most widely recognised name. So, while money might be tight for many SMEs at the moment, consumer support and goodwill has never been greater.

They’re the most agile

One of the things that we’ve witnessed over the course of the pandemic is the entrepreneurial spirit among SMEs. Many have had to quickly adapt and change – sometimes reinventing their business model almost entirely.

SMEs are in a unique position to implement new ideas and practices, as they often have less complicated business structures and supply chains than larger companies. Flexibility is in their DNA.

This same ability and boldness in decision making can be used to make real change within a business in the context of sustainability. Why go back to where we were before when we can build back with an invigorated sense of purpose? Our research has shown that three quarters of SME business leaders say the pandemic has made them feel like they need to run their business differently, and with sustainability now higher than ever on the agenda. Why not put this at the core of your vision?

SMEs have always been a cornerstone of our community, providing us with goods and services that feel more personal and tailored to our individual needs. But now, in an increasingly interconnected world, their influence is growing, and they are fast becoming the pace setters in our ongoing battle to protect the planet and future generations from carbon emissions.

Written By Rob Milloy, Director of Sales and Service, Opus Energy

Whether you pay for your bills quarterly or on a monthly basis, most of us expect that our bills are a true reflection of the energy our business has used in that period.

What you might not be aware of is that third-party charges – or non-energy or non-commodity charges as they’re also known – can account for anywhere between 40%-70% of your electricity bill, and 20%-50% of your gas charges, depending on your business location and meter type. These charges cover things such as transporting your energy, the Climate Change Levy and even the security of your supply.

As a result of Covid-19, we might even see third-party costs rise this year. Therefore, it’s important for business owners to understand what they are so that they can reduce the impact this might have on their outgoings.

In this article, we break down the 4 main types of third-party costs and provide some suggestions on how to keep costs down across your business.

1. Infrastructure costs

This is the cost of transporting the energy from where it’s generated to where it’s used. It also covers the costs of maintaining the infrastructure and networks used to transport the energy.

2. National grid costs

These are made up to balance energy supply and demand in real time. The National Grid calculates each half-hour based on the system needs at that point. These charges not only help to keep the Electricity Transmission System balanced each day, but they also ensure power can be transmitted to where it’s needed.

3. Low carbon generation costs

These charges are costs from the Government, which fund low carbon and renewable generation for the entire country. They include:

• Contracts for Difference: The Government sets a fixed price to pay to large renewable energy generators for every MWh generated. To support them, suppliers need to contribute the difference between the fixed price and the market value of that energy.
• Feed-in Tariff: Cost to support small-scale renewable generators, such as solar roof installations. This scheme guarantees a fixed tariff based on how much the generator generates. Suppliers make payments to Ofgem, the industry regulator, to help fund this. Because of the increasing adoption, costs for suppliers have been increasing year on year.
• The Climate Change Levy: Climate Change Levy (CCL) is an environmental tax for business energy use which aims to encourage businesses to become more energy efficient. This tax is collected on behalf of HMRC by all energy suppliers and it appears separately on energy bills if it applies to you.

4. Security of supply costs

Again, these are Government costs, however in this case they are to maintain supply security as the UK builds more intermittent renewable generation. These are known as Capacity Market charges, and they enable non-renewable generators to schedule their generation at times when it’s required, such as when renewable generation is intermittent. An auction run by the National Grid on behalf of the Government determines the cost.

Keeping these costs down

It’s important that you shop around to try and get the best tariff possible for your business, and make sure to find out how third-party costs are accounted for in your contract. This means that when you’re in a contract – which can be fixed from anything from one to five years, depending on your supplier – you’ll benefit from cost-certainty. A good energy supplier should provide a transparent overview of this for you before you sign your contract.

As well as this, it’s crucial to keep an eye on your bills and frequently submit meter readings to your provider. This will then give you a finger-on-the-pulse idea of your business’ energy use. Fortunately, thanks to smart meters, keeping on top of your energy usage has never been so easy. It will also provide you with a benchmark to measure against. This means you’ll more easily notice sudden spikes in your usage and costs. You may even be able to link them directly to something that has changed in your business – new, energy-intensive equipment that’s been installed, for example.

Paying your energy bills may not be the most exciting task but it is a necessary one. And for money-conscious business owners, it really does pay dividends to stay informed about energy saving tactics. Depending on your business type, you should also check whether you’re eligible for exemption from the CCL rates.

From monitoring your consumption to investing in energy-efficient measures in your building, there are plenty of options out there – you just need to find what’s right for you.

As the UK falls into recession there has been a large increase in the number of households switching away from the Big Six energy providers in order to save on their bills, according to auto-switching specialists Flipper.

“Nearly 1,000,000 people have switched energy supplier since June 1 and more than 400,000 of those moved away from the Big Six energy firms that dominate the market,” said Mark Gutteridge, CEO of auto-switching website Flipper.

“This is an increase of 25% compared to the same time last year, while the number of people switching back to a large supplier has fallen by 32%”.

“People are now seeing the impact of the increase in home energy usage since lockdown in their bills and are taking action. And with pressure on household budgets expected to increase in the coming months as the furlough scheme ends, we expect this trend to continue.”

Until 2013 the Big 6 supplied energy to 98% of all UK households but, as more suppliers entered the energy market, they saw customers numbers drop dramatically and have lost more than 8 MILLION households to the new entrants over the past 5 years.

Flipper are supporting thousands of households across the UK by helping them find the best energy deal for their needs and while saving money remains the major factor, being with a supplier that offers great service or being on a green energy tariff are also important for many customers.

“A typical household can save around £330 a year by moving from a Standard tariff with a Big 6 supplier to a new deal with a really good mid-size supplier.”

Unlike other auto-switching or comparison sites Flipper is independent and takes no commission or referral fees, meaning it can “flip” its members to any energy provider based on price, customer service and value for money.

Its members pay a £30 annual subscription; however, no money is payable until Flipper finds a deal saving at least £50 off the current energy bill.

For more information go to www.flipper.community