Compare business energy suppliers

How much your business could save by switching commercial energy suppliers depends on its size, the number of staff and, ultimately, how efficiently it’s run. The exact amount is hard to pinpoint because all businesses are different. Let us help you to compare business energy deals for your business.

Switching business energy supplier isn’t quite as simple as switching home energy supplier. Yes, the transition from one supplier to the next should be almost as smooth because, as with household energy, your business gas and electricity will be supplied through the existing pipes and cables. But you can’t change supplier until your contract enters the ‘switching window’, which is usually between one and six months before its end date.

As soon as this happens, you should run a business energy price comparison. That’s because it’s a good idea to have your next energy tariff in place and ready to go for when your current contract ends.

To make the switch, just answer a few questions, such as what type of business you have, where it’s located, and how much energy it uses. If you can, grab your latest bill when you start a quote. All the answers will be on there.

Once you’ve answered everything, we’ll check the market and present you with available tariffs based on your needs – all you need to do is choose one. Your new energy supplier will sort out all the finer details and arrange for the switch to take place.

There won’t be any disruptions to your supply when you switch commercial energy suppliers. Your new energy supplier will liaise with your old one and make all the arrangements for the switch over.

As with domestic switches, you’ll be expected to take an up-to-date meter reading and pay off any outstanding bills.

When choosing a business energy supplier, you need to consider the following:

• Energy suppliers typically offer commercial customers a range of fixed rate tariffs over one, two, three or even five years. As a rule, the longer the fixed term, the more expensive the tariff is likely to be – but it does offer protection from any increases in the future.

• Some suppliers offer discounts if bills are paid by direct debit.

• If you’re concerned about the environment, look for green energy options. Alternatively, opt for paperless billing or choose a supplier that gets involved in projects such as tree planting.

Business energy customers usually can’t get dual fuel deals – suppliers offer gas and electricity separately.

Charities and not-for-profit organisations are eligible for a 15% reduction in VAT, taking it down to 5%. Plus, they are exempt from the Climate Change Levy (CCL), which is a tax on commercial energy use, reducing bills by a further 5%.

If you think your not-for-profit organisation is entitled to money off energy, contact your supplier and ask for a VAT declaration form.

Unfortunately, the Feed-In Tariff (FiT) scheme ended for new applications on 1 April, 2019. If you successfully applied before that date, you’ll be able to make money back on the electricity your business generates, by selling any excess energy back to the National Grid. If not, you’ll not be able to take advantage of the FiT scheme.

How much you’ll get paid for generating electricity depends on the size of the system you have, as well as what type of technology is installed, such as solar panels or wind turbines. If you’re interested in generating your own energy, visit the Energy Savings Trust for help and advice.

Green energy comes from renewable sources – like sunlight, wind or even plants. And just like with domestic energy, some of these options will be available to commercial energy customers.

Alternatively, you might choose one that doesn’t use fracking, an environmentally damaging way to extract natural gas. There are also smaller ways you can be green, like choosing paperless billing and being as energy efficient as possible.

Businesses will naturally use more energy than the average home, so being aware of your firm’s impact on the environment is no bad thing. If being green is important to you, just click the ‘green’ option under ‘tariff type’ when you compare quotes.

You can find all the information needed to switch business energy on your bill – look out for:

• your current supplier’s name

• tariff name and end date

• your supply type

• how much energy your business uses in kWh (kilowatt hours) or pounds

If you’re not sure where to find any of these, take a look at our article: Understanding your energy bill.

If you don’t have a recent bill to hand then you can still search great deals, but be aware that the quotes might not be as accurate.

Our list of business energy suppliers shows who you can turn to for a commercial energy package:

• British Gas Lite

• British Gas

• Brook Green Supply

• Crown Energy

• Drax

• EDF Energy

• Engie

• EON

• EON Next

• Hudson

• Npower

• Scottish and Southern Electric

• Scottish Power

• SEFE Energy

• Shell Energy

• Smartest Energy

• Valda Energy

• Yorkshire Gas & Power

• Yu Energy

The above list of business energy suppliers features familiar providers who you might expect to offer commercial energy packages as well as smaller companies that might be able to offer you a great deal on gas and electricity for your business.

You can take your existing energy supplier along with you or switch to a new one. Either way it’s important to have something in place, otherwise expensive out-of-contract charges may apply.

If you stick with your current supplier, you’ll need to give them notice of your move – about a month should be enough. You’ll also need to let them know the date you’re moving out and the date you move in to your new premises, as well as the new address. You should take meter readings at your old and new locations on the day you move out and in.

It’s your choice. When you get to the prices page, you can opt to have quotes shown with or without VAT and CCL (climate change levy).

Just answer a few questions about your business and its energy consumption – it’s as easy as that. All the details you need are on your bill.

We’ll look for available tariffs based on what you’ve told us; you can then refine the results to make sure you get a supplier and package that really suits you and your business.

Search here:

• Enter the postcode of your business. Using smart digital data, we can then access everything we need to give you a quote.

• Experts from our business energy provider, Bionic, will study the market to help you find the energy tariff to suit your needs, then give you a brief call to discuss it.

• Should you choose to switch energy providers, Bionic will look after everything for you, including future renewals.