Small business
energy help

Similar to its predecessor the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, or EBRS, the Energy Bill Discount Scheme is designed to help UK businesses by limiting the per-unit price businesses pay on their gas and electricity bill.

Now expired and replaced by the Energy Bills Discount Scheme, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme capped the wholesale cost of energy for UK businesses between October 2022 and March 2023.

Because energy providers buy gas and electricity in bulk for commercial users, business energy is almost always cheaper than domestic supply. However, businesses that let their energy contract expire without switching to a new provider or establishing a renewal contract, will find themselves moved to a Deemed Contract or Rolling Contract. These tariffs are usually the most expensive ways to buy business energy and unit prices can be higher than those for domestic users.

If you are near the end of your current contract, or you can switch energy supplier without penalty, it is certainly worth shopping around to get a business energy comparison. A new contract may reduce your gas and electricity tariffs, lock in price-certainty, and lower the amount of VAT you pay. Upload your current energy bill to Swoop and let us find the best deal for your businesses needs.

The Climate Change Levy is an environmental tax charged on the energy that businesses use. It’s designed to encourage businesses to be more energy efficient in how they operate, as well as helping to reduce their overall emissions. 

The CCL applies to businesses in the industrial, public services, commercial and agricultural sectors, and is charged on ‘taxable commodities’ for heating, lighting, and power purposes. However, CCL has been waived for the duration of the government’s energy support plan for businesses.

Read more: our in-depth guide to the Climate Change Levy.

The big six energy suppliers are the largest providers of energy in the UK. They provide electricity and gas to businesses and residential users. The companies in this elite group are British Gas, EDF Energy, EON, Npower, Scottish Power, and SSE.

There is no mandatory cooling off period for commercial energy contracts. This means businesses must ensure their new or renewal deal is right for their specific circumstances before they sign on the dotted line. Trying to get out of an unsuitable contract after signing can be difficult and expensive. 

Fixing your business energy price can provide price-certainty and be the best financial move when energy costs are rising. However, if energy prices go into a sudden reversal, you could be stuck paying more per unit than you should be. The question is, is a price drop likely anytime soon? If you feel uncertain about the future direction of energy prices, seek a fixed price deal for only one or two years, and hope that that energy costs have fallen by the time the contract expires.

Yes. You can prepay your business energy with a Flex Approach Tariff. This type of contract lets you bulk-buy your gas and electricity in advance, and offers the potential for large savings, as you may benefit from wholesale prices.

The number of suppliers of renewable energy for business has shrunk dramatically since the start of 2021, as dozens of providers have gone bankrupt, and their customers have been transferred to other providers. However, businesses seeking a greener energy deal can still secure a renewable energy contract from providers such as Octopus, Ecotricity, and Orsted.

Government, industry, educational, and charitable sources provide technical advice, materials, and finance to help UK SME’s achieve greater energy efficiency. Access to some of these benefits is on a case by base basis, so it is important that business owners research every option to find the best result for their organisation.

Ofgem provides an overview of all the options, but you can obtain energy saving advice from National Energy Foundation/You Gen, Energy Savings Trust, Small Business, and Gov Energy Technology. Government energy saving finance can be found here, while local councils and business initiatives may also offer energy saving financial support. You could get paid to generate your own renewable power via the Smart Export Guarantee, or secure a grant for the installation of green energy equipment. Lastly, grants may be available to you via charitable sources, or WRAP, a foundation to support the use of recycled materials.

There are no specific tax credits or rebates for choosing to buy renewable energy, but the government does provide tax breaks for the purchase and installation of energy saving equipment and systems.

If you suspect you’ve been mis-sold a business energy contract, either deliberately, or due to negligence or error by an intermediary or the energy provider, your options are three-fold:

• Firstly, you can challenge the at-fault party directly, providing detailed evidence of the mis-selling and asking for your money back.
• If the intermediary or energy company do not respond favourably, your next step is to report the mis-selling to Ofgem, the government regulator for the supply of gas and electricity to homes and businesses. Ofgem has an obligation to review complaints against energy companies and their intermediaries and they have the power to award compensation on your behalf. However, they can be slow to take a case on.
• Your final option is legal. There are law firms in the UK who work on a no-win, no pay basis, and specialise in the business energy sector. They get paid by taking a percentage of any compensation they secure on your behalf but do no not charge upfront fees. If they win the case, they take their share. If they lose, you pay them nothing and they absorb the cost of the litigation.

Business energy claims are compensation cases against energy providers and intermediaries who have mis-sold business energy contracts to UK companies. (See above).

If you have the roof or ground space to accommodate them, solar panels are a good option for many types and size of business. Modern solar panels have a long lifetime and require minimal maintenance. Their installation can protect a significant portion of your business’s energy usage from increasing costs and put you ahead of growing legislation to curb emissions as the government tightens its focus on net zero.

Even though the upfront cost of installation may be higher than other investment opportunities, most businesses can expect to recover the full cost of the technology in 5 to 7 years. After that, your energy savings will be considerable, and you may even be able to make money by selling surplus energy back to the grid. For tax purposes, solar panels are a fully deductible business expense.

Read more: our in-depth guide to getting started with solar for business

A business energy audit is the process where a professional (auditor) assesses your business for any opportunities that could help save energy. The auditors will review your premises, plant, operating methods, and your current business energy contract. A good audit could pinpoint significant energy wastage and reveal the best ways to offset or correct those faults.

Businesses must pay VAT on the energy they use. The standard rate is 20% and although this is a business-to-business purchase, you cannot claim the tax back. Most businesses will pay the 20% rate, but some may qualify for a discounted 5% rate if:

• The business is a charitable or non-profit organisation.
• The business uses at least 60% of its energy for ‘domestic purposes’. This would apply to businesses with residential services, such as care homes or self-catering holiday accommodation. The 5% rate applies to the whole bill if you the business uses 60% or more of its energy for domestic reasons, however if it’s less than 60%, only the proportion of energy used for domestic reasons is eligible.
• The business has ‘low’ energy usage, which is usually defined as using less than 1,000kWh of electricity every month (33kWh a day), or 4,397kWh of gas (145kWh a day).

Read more: our in-depth guide to business energy VAT

Ofgem, (the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets), is the Government regulator for the supply of energy to UK business and domestic users. They set the ‘price cap’ for the domestic market, regulate the operation of energy providers and distributors, and act as a watchdog on the energy industry to protect energy customers from malpractice by providers.

A kilowatt hour (kWh) is a measure of how much energy you’re using per hour. kW stands for kilowatt, a universal standard for measuring electricity. One kilowatt equals 1,000 watts. The h in kWh stands for hour – a measure of time.

The kWh is a unit if energy and your electricity provider charges you for every kWh you use. As an example, a machine that is rated at 3kWh will consume 3000 watts of power per hour. If you were paying 20p per kWh, the machine would cost 60p per hour to run.

No. Domestic users can choose a dual-fuel energy deal, but this option is not available for businesses, who must negotiate separate contracts for each kind of energy they require.

If your contract expires and you do not switch supplier, or agree a new deal, you will be moved to this rolling , out-of-contract tariff. Deemed contracts are one of the most expensive ways to buy business energy.

A rolling contract is also known as a rollover tariff. It is a different kind of deemed contract - used when no alternative has been agreed before your current contract’s end date. It is also one of the most expensive ways to buy business energy.

Multi-site meters, or multi-location business energy contracts, are a simple and efficient way to organise the billing for numerous meters. This could be the billing for meters housed in one large business site, or several meters across multiple business locations. Multi-site meters allow businesses to centralise their energy control and avoid the hassle of contracting with multiple providers and receiving multiple energy bills.

When your business moves premises, your current energy contract ceases from the date you move. Business energy contracts are linked to the supply point, which means your current deal will not transfer to your new address and you will need to secure a new energy contract for that location.

With difficulty. Your energy provider has already purchased enough energy from generators and gas suppliers to cover the period of your contract. If you pull out of the deal, they will be out of pocket. Therefore, unless you can prove you have been mis-sold your business energy contract, the only way out of the deal is to pay off the remainder of the contract term.

Switching will not interrupt your energy supply. When you change provider, the new vendor takes over your meter from the previous provider. This action is seamless and the consumer (you), will not notice the change until the new provider’s bill lands in your inbox.

Since the start of 2021, more than half of all UK energy providers have gone bust. In most cases, their customers – domestic and business – have been switched to new providers with no loss in service or supply. Here’s a list of the UK energy providers that have ceased trading or have gone into special administration since 01 January 2021.