In today’s energy-conscious world, businesses are seeking solutions to optimise their energy consumption, smart meters have been designed to track business’ energy usage patterns, provide accurate meter readings and a visual representation of real-time energy usage. They are the ideal solution for businesses to gain control over their energy consumption, and find solutions to reduce business energy bills.   Progress in rolling out smart meter Starting in 2011, the smart meter rollout began. According to the government statistics, in smaller, non-domestic sites (such as micro and small businesses) 145,900 smart and advanced meters were installed by all energy suppliers. This is a 48% increase on 2020.   As smart meter installations continue across the country, gas and electricity suppliers now have binding annual targets to achieve to ensure all their non-smart customers have smart and advanced meters installed by 2025.   Are people reluctant to install smart meters?  Although these figures are suggesting an uptake in smart meter installations, the majority of these meters are still yet to be installed.   This may be because there are several misconceptions surrounding the use of smart meters. A commonly asked question regarding these devices is whether or not they use more electricity.   Although it is true that your small device uses your electricity supply for power, the very small amount that it does use, does not counteract the benefits this device provides. In fact, there is no additional cost for the installation of your smart meters. You won’t have an extra charge on your energy bill because you chose to have a smart meter.   How do smart meters work? Smart meters work by measuring your business gas and electricity usage and sharing this data directly with your energy supplier. This means no more electricity or gas meter readings needs to be submitted. The smart meter does all this for you, sending accurate and regular readings to avoid estimated energy bills. A smart meter does not require internet access, instead they use the secure smart data network to share information about your energy usage. The system of which this works can be compared to how other wireless systems and devices use radio waves. Smart meters can be used in replacement of traditional meters, such as prepay meters.   Your smart meter comes in two parts: the smart meter and digital display. The smart meter will be fitted where your traditional meter is housed, while you can choose to place your digital display in an accessible place. This accompanying digital display will give you access to data about your business electricity or gas usage. This will help you to manage your business energy usage, with the intention of helping you save energy usage and save money on energy bills.   Smart meters for small businesses  As small businesses feel the pinch of the rising cost of living, business owners are regularly seeking new tips and advice for saving energy costs.   One way to do this is to pay closer attention to monthly bills and to find ways to reduce these costs, if possible. In a study by Smart Energy GB, 72% of small business owners have already made the switch to a smart meter or are considering doing so to manage their energy use.   It is simple to request a smart meter for your small business, if you haven’t done so already. Our regulator OFGEM has made it mandatory to categorise businesses we supply into 2 categories referred as either micro business or non-micro business. As a D-ENERGi customer you have a choice of between two types of smart meters. These are an AMR meter or a SMETS2 meter. Both of which will offer similar benefits, although we do recommend referring to our handy comparison table here, to familiarise yourself with these devices and to find the meter that is better suited to your requirements. Each type will help you better understand how your business uses energy.   AMR smart meters – you can gain a better understanding of your energy consumption. That can help you reduce the amount of energy you use. And that can help to lower your costs and reduce your carbon footprint. Your AMR smart meter sends your meter readings remotely. So you’ll benefit from accurate bills based on your actual readings, rather than an estimate.   SMETS2 smart meters – give you all the same benefits of AMR meters. These include remote meter readings, accurate billing without the need for estimates, plus access to your energy data. You can view your energy consumption in near real-time.   Whether you’d prefer AMR or SMETS2 smart meters for your business, do not hesitate to get in touch with our friendly Customer Services team at 0800 781 7626.   If you are yet to be D-ENERGi customer and your business energy contract is approaching its end, take the opportunity to compare business energy prices and secure a better deal. Get your free quote today.

Whenever you receive an energy bill, whether that is by post or via email, it may be tempting to put this to one side and ignore it. However, it is incredibly important to read your business energy bills when you receive them. This will help you to understand your energy usage and how your energy supplier has calculated your costs.  Our quick guide provides all the details you need to decipher your business energy bill and use this to your advantage.  How to break down your bill  Receiving a letter with numbers across the page, graphs and more, can make understanding your energy bill confusing. But, it doesn’t have to be. Being able to break down each section of your bill will simplify the information you have been provided. Bills will look slightly different, depending on who your supplier is. However, the majority of energy bills will display the following information in some format.  Your usage period – this will be a date range, indicating what period of time this bill is for. Usually this will be between several months.   The amount required – The total amount will be shown clearly on the page, this is the figure that you owe your energy supplier. Your energy consumption – Your energy bill will typically display the amount of energy you have consumed during this period. This will be measured in kilowatt hours (kWh).  Your meter readings – If you were providing your energy supplier with regular meter readings during this period, they will display your actual meter readings. If this was not the case they will display their estimated meter readings based on previous energy consumption. Your meter serial number must also be shown here, so be sure to check this is correct.  A breakdown of your bill – this will usually be included in your bill to further explain the figure you owe.  When you first receive your bill, you should read it through thoroughly and identify each of these key sections. If there is anything missing or information that you do not believe to be accurate, it is important that you get in contact with your energy supplier who can further explain this. If the meter serial number shown on your bill is incorrect, you must identify this immediately and let your supplier know, as they could be retrieving data from the wrong meter and making poor estimations.

Plans unveiled today (21/09/2021) by Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg have been announced to support growth, prevent unnecessary insolvencies and protect jobs in response to the rising energy bills faced by businesses, households and public sector organisations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. What are the government doing to support UK businesses To support UK businesses, the government has set a Supported Wholesale Price which will help to cut bills this winter. This price is expected to be £211 per MWh for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas, less than half the wholesale prices anticipated this winter. Key points from the latest government announcement: The introduction of a new government scheme will see energy prices as businesses, charities and public sector organisations cut – protecting them and their jobs from rising costs. Through a new government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers This support is in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee for households, with further measures today to strengthen support for families across the United Kingdom, including those in rentals or park homes source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-outlines-plans-to-help-cut-energy-bills-for-businesses How will this energy support be applied? In this latest announcement, the UK government has stated they will apply this support to fixed contracts agreed on or after 1 April 2022, as to deemed, variable and flexible tariffs and contracts. This will also apply to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, initially running for a six-month period. Businesses can expect to see these savings applied to their October bills which are, in most cases, received in November. As with the Energy Price Guarantee for households, business energy customers do not need to take action or apply to the scheme to access the support. Support (in the form of a p/kWh discount) will automatically be applied to bills. To ensure the protection of businesses during winter months, the introduction of this scheme will help businesses manage what was expected to be an incredibly challenging time. Liz Truss, the newly appointed Prime Minister, had this to say: “ I understand the huge pressure businesses, charities and public sector organisations are facing with their energy bills, which is why we are taking immediate action to support them over the winter and protect jobs and livelihoods. “As we are doing for consumers, our new scheme will keep their energy bills down from October, providing certainty and peace of mind. At the same time, we are boosting Britain’s homegrown energy supply so we fix the root cause of the issues we are facing and ensure greater energy security for us all.” Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng added: “We have stepped in to stop businesses collapsing, protect jobs, and limit inflation. And with our plans to boost home-grown energy supply, we will bring security to the sector, growth to the economy and secure a better deal for consumers.”  For any of our business energy customers concerned about the current energy crisis, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our customer service team for advice and guidance regarding your bills and payments.

A lot of people have been put off buying an electric car because the charging aspect is very different from just filling your car up with diesel or petrol. We take a look at how long electric vehicle charging takes, and how long the charge will last. How long does it take to charge an electric car? The amount of time it will take to charge an electric car will depend on two things: Battery size – the bigger the battery the longer it will take to charge Amount of power the charger can deliver It can take anywhere between 30 minutes and 12 hours to charge an electric vehicle, but it usually takes around 8 hours on average. How are electric cars charged? Electric cars are charged by being plugged into a power outlet – either at your home or at a car park or service station. If you are going on a long drive, it is advised that you stop at a service station along the way and charge your car. The advantage of charging your car at an electric vehicle charging station rather than at home is that the service station will usually have commercial chargers that will charge your vehicle much faster. It has been said that the most efficient way to charge your car is in small bursts throughout the day, and then leave it plugged in overnight when you get home. Can I charge my electric car at home? Yes. You can have an electric vehicle charging point installed at home so that you can easily charge your vehicle when you are not using it. D-ENERGI also offers an electric vehicle charging station solution for workplaces, offering employers a free no-obligation site survey. How much will it cost to charge an electric car? It is quite easy to work out how much it will cost to charge your electric car by doing a few simple calculations. You need to know the kWh of the charging point and then multiply this by the cost of your electricity. To find the kWh of your charging point, you will need to check the power of your charger. Most home chargers are 3.7w but it is best to check yours just to make sure. You then need to convert this power into watts by multiplying it by 1000. So, a standard electric vehicle home charger is 3.7kwh x 1000 = 3700 watts Then think about how long you will be charging your electric vehicle. If we go with the standard of 8 hours, then we need to multiply 3700 watts by 8 hours = 29600 watts. We then divide this by 1000 to convert it back to kWh, which brings us to 29.6 kWh. Now that we know the kWh it will take us to charge our electric vehicle, we can work out how much this will cost us by multiplying the kWh by the cost of electricity. The average cost of electricity is 0.13p at the moment, so we multiply 0.13 by 29.6 = £3.80 a day. To find out more about how D-ENERGi can help you with electric vehicle charging points for domestic or commercial use, please get in touch.