SMEs urged to save on electricity bills

New Zealand small to medium businesses (SMEs) are finding they can make significant savings on their electricity bills with more than 2,500 businesses finding out how much they could save by using the Electricity Authority’s What’s My Number business tool.  

By using the online tool, one business found the difference between the cheapest and most expensive pricing option was $28,000 a year.

However, Electricity Authority Chief Executive, Carl Hansen says more New Zealand businesses need to check if they are on the right pricing plan otherwise they could be missing out on huge savings. 

In October 2012, the Electricity Authority, which is behind the “What’s My Number” campaign aimed at households, extended its programme to enable SMEs to shop around for the best electricity deal. Businesses can use the free, independent online tool to enter their electricity details and get participating retailers to respond with their best offers. 

Research has shown that SMEs perceived that there were no real gains to be made from switching and that it was too much of a hassle. 

“Now SMEs are starting to find out just how easy it is to shop around for cheaper power.  The average spread in pricing received back is 26% indicating significant savings can be gained by comparing and switching electricity retailers,” says Carl. 

“The tool is simple to use and the more New Zealand businesses check they are on the right plan, the more pressure they can put on retailers to provide competitive offers,” concludes Carl. 

Harcourts Cooper & Co Real Estate Ltd, an Auckland based real estate company with 12 branches servicing the North Shore and Waiheke areas, was surprised to discover it could save thousands on electricity by using the tool. 

 After visiting the What’s My Number website, Ciaran Lowney, CFO of Harcourts Cooper & Co, said he found his company could save up to $8,000 across all their branches by switching to another electricity provider, a figure which he says, “kind of surprised me to be honest.”

Although the company has an employee base of 320, Lowney says the use of electricity is relatively minimal so he wasn’t expecting much of a disparity between the highest and lowest price offering from electricity retailers.

Ciaran says he regularly reviews ways to reduce overhead costs and when a staff member handed him a flyer on the tool, he didn’t hesitate to see if he could save by switching providers.

“I found the tool to be straight-forward and intuitive. It’s very easy to use and it doesn’t take long to fill in the online form. I’ve already recommended it to others as a good way to save a significant sum.” 

“Sometimes you can spend all your time chasing external suppliers to save $200 a year on overheads, but this process is straightforward and the potential for savings is huge. I would recommend it to every conscientious business owner,” Ciaran concludes. 

Businesses can start the process online, using the tool built by the company Switchme Ltd, and receive personalised quotes from participating retailers based on their location and electricity consumption.

 To get started businesses just need to complete two simple steps:

1. Grab a recent power bill

2. Fill in the personalised quote form online

Participating retailers will then prepare quotes which the business can review online and select their preferred retailer – the new retailer will take it from there.