Gov to offer energy tips through mass media campaign

The new campaign, which is targeted at small and medium sized businesses, will offer guidance on how organisations can make “significant” savings while cutting emissions, from installing light and heating timers, to turning down boiler flow temperature and changing light bulbs.

To make sure as many businesses as possible know about the campaign, it will be promoted through paid advertorial across TV, radio, social media and more, with the Government seeking to promote this through partnerships with the British Chambers of Commerce and Federation of Small Businesses.

The move follows the launch of the Government’s £18m It All Adds Up​ campaign last year, which provides similar advice for households.

Businesses have recently had support to combat energy bills significantly reduced when the Government ended the Energy Bill Relief Scheme on 31 March and replaced it with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme.

Many already aware

Many organisations are already aware of ways to boost their energy efficiency, the Government said, and have put these measures into practice. However, a substantial number of businesses are missing out on huge potential savings, due to a lack of information on how to cut down on their energy costs.

For many companies, a 20% cut in energy costs represents the same bottom-line benefit as a 5% increase in sales. A new website will help organisations access simple, low-to-no cost advice, outlining a range of possible actions, from having better sight of current energy use to upgrading and modifying equipment.

Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said: “Falling wholesale energy prices are welcome news but this in no way changes our firm, long-term commitments to vastly boost UK energy efficiency across industry and households.

“Businesses, charities and public sector bodies can access helpful and practical advice on simple actions they can take to substantially reduce their energy use – and potentially increase profits.”

Range of support

He continued: “Not only will this help lower operational costs by up to hundreds of thousands of pounds, but smarter energy use will help us deliver on our critical pledges to cut demand by 15% and reach net zero by 2050.”

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said on Twitter: “New govt energy efficiency campaign launched to coincide with changes to energy support – could help improve efficiency, productivity and reduce bills. At same time, we urge businesses to talk to their suppliers to see if there is more that can be done to reset bills.”

The new website also offers guidance on taking full advantage of the Government’s range of energy support schemes available, such as the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS), which offers a unit discount on bills, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which offers grants to help make installing heat pumps and biomass boilers as cheap as a gas boiler.

From 1 April, all eligible non-domestic customers who have a contract with a licensed energy supplier will see a unit discount of up to £6.97/MWh applied to their gas bill and a unit discount of up to £19.61/MWh applied to their electricity bill through the EBDS.

This will be subject to a wholesale price threshold – £107/MWh for gas and £302/MWh for electricity. This means businesses experiencing wholesale energy costs below this level will not receive support.