When you’re offered bespoke quotes for gas and electricity, it can be difficult to work out whether you’re getting a good deal or not. Prices might seem high (or low), but without knowing how much energy you’ll actually use, you won’t know whether the quote you receive is competitive.
Because each individual business is unique, it’s hard to put a figure on what’s a good price to pay. However, experts recommend that small and medium-sized businesses should pay between 10.5 and 12.5 pence per unit.
Your actual bill may fall outside that range because of the fact that you need to cover the fixed costs of the energy supplier, including the cost of maintaining the power network and the cost of transporting energy to your location. These costs are known as “standing charges” and vary from supplier to supplier, depending on their overhead. Your final tariff, therefore, will depend on a broad range of factors.
Remember, the cheapest tariff may seem like the most enticing, but it might not be the best for your business if the supplier cannot cater for your specific needs. The risk with cheap providers is that they will provide a substandard service. Though you may save a small amount of money in the short term, interruptions to your energy supply could mean that you lose a lot more money in the long-term. Always read the terms and conditions of business energy contracts carefully to make sure that your company isn’t at risk of unexpected downtime.