AIB recently announced a €100 million Fund for businesses to complete energy efficiency projects, after researching that one third of SMEs do not understand their energy bills and 86 per cent do not know how to lower them. As energy prices are on an upward trend, there is an increasing need for businesses to effectively manage energy costs. Reducing utility costs is still one of the most effective and achievable strategies for lowering business operating costs.

It would seem also that lots of businesses are on the incorrect Electricity Tariff while their fixed charges may be inaccurate also. Mike McGrath, Managing Director of Arvo Cost Management commented “We see this every day. Some businesses are actually on the incorrect Electricity tariff and therefore are paying more for their electricity than they need to be. In one case in particular, we corrected a tariff for one business saving them €39,087 annually, while this week we corrected Tariffs on a daily basis for our clients”.

An even simpler technique is to ensure your fixed charges are correct. Every energy bill has fixed and variable charges, so start by ensuring your fixed charges are accurate and competitive. For example, your Maximum Import Capacity (MIC) Charges relate to the kilovolt ampere (Kva) connection and maximum load between your electricity account and ESB Networks. Mr. McGrath continues, “some businesses are not set at the correct MIC level and pay either penalty fees or excess charges on their bills as a result. We recently corrected the MIC for one client who was paying an excess of €2,067 per month. Worryingly for Irish Businesses, up until recently, we could ascertain this MIC Data from ESB Networks but now they no longer provide this information, ensuring it is difficult for businesses to correct their Maximum Import Capacity.

“This practice is not unique to the Energy Market, we observe discrepancies in billing on Telecom, Stationery and service-based invoices. This often occurs as the Purchaser, User and Payer of a particular product or service within a business, are rarely the same person.”

Contact us today if you feel like it is the right time to review your electricity bills.