Reduce your utility bills Kelso : Rennie Welch

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Reduce your utility bills

  1. Resources
  2. Your business
  3. Developing your business
  4. Business finance

At Rennie Welch we can provide businesses with help and advice on finance and on a wide range of business issues. Here is a checklist for reducing your utility bills…

Almost every business pays more than it needs to in utility bills. Conducting a utility audit might seem like a time consuming distraction but you could be pleasantly surprised by how much it adds to your bottom line.

Use the checklist below to identify potential savings for your business:

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Have a member of staff responsible for checking all utility bills – Make sure they know how the bills are calculated, what tariffs are available, etc.
Carry out your own readings of all energy and water meters each month – Use the information to plot patterns of use
Check that all utility bills are accurate and that any estimates are reasonable – Even the largest utility companies make mistakes
Annually review the tariffs you use – Not only do your usage patterns change, your suppliers also change the deals they offer
Monitor overnight energy usage – Check if it is being used by essential equipment and if so that you have the best overnight tariff
Make the best use of cheap rate electricity – If you can arrange usage by water heaters etc so that 15% of total electricity usage occurs during off–peak hours, you might benefit from switching to a day/night tariff
If you are on a Maximum Demand tariff, review your supply capacity – If your declared supply capacity is more than 15% higher than your highest Maximum Demand, contact your supplier to have it lowered
Find ways to reduce usage during peak hours – Try rescheduling non–essential loads
If you are on a monthly tariff, check your power factor – Check that you are not being penalised for a poor power factor
Shop around for a cheaper electricity and/or gas supplier
If your site has more than one gas meter, make sure they are aggregated for billing purposes – This can reduce both standing and unit charges and could lead to a better rate
Make sure your water meter is the right size – Standing charges are calculated according to meter size – don't pay for an unnecessarily large one

If you are looking for professional advice from an experienced team of accountants, contact Rennie Welch.

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