According to a new study, office businesses will see their monthly costs increase by an average of over PS580.
The Energy Bills Insight, a project by SAS, a leader in data and AI, analysed ONS Data from over 1.7 million buildings owned by businesses to determine how much electricity and gas each sector consumed on average.
In the past two years, 77% of companies have admitted to increasing the price of their products and services because of high energy costs. Some are even insolvent.
The wholesale energy price has decreased since the Energy Bill Relief Scheme was introduced by the previous government in 2022 and 2023. However, the base rates for electricity and gas have risen for businesses this winter, compared to the summer prices. Rates remain high because of global factors.
The office sector is likely to experience the largest increase in energy costs. A combined monthly gas and electric bill of PS6,053 (an increase of PS585), divided into PS387 per electricity and PS198 per gas, would be an estimate for each building. This can be due either to an increase in usage or a larger building.
The average monthly bill for manufacturers is expected to increase by over PS2,000. This can be because of activities like the extra heating, cool down and chemical processing needed to manufacture certain products.
Emergency Services face an increase of over PS1,000 per month, per building. This is most likely because gas consumption increases during colder months.
The industries that are experiencing the highest energy costs:
Industry | Gas usage on the rise (PS) | Increase in electricity consumption (PS) | Total monthly expenditure (PS) | Total increase (PS). |
Manufacturing (Factories). | 1,520 | 662 | 20,057 | 2,182 |
Emergency Services | 633 | 595 | 12,006 | 1,229 |
Shops/Retail | 41 | 620 | 7,441 | 662 |
Health | 487 | 297 | 7,403 | 784 |
Education | 380 | 319 | 6,766 | 699 |
Offices | 198 | 387 | 6,053 | 585 |
Arts, Community and Leisure | 317 | 274 | 5,741 | 591 |
Warehouse and Logistics | 253 | 71 | 2,894 | 324 |
Hospitality | 92 | 122 | 2,145 | 213 |
Duncan Bain Senior Energy Advisor, SAS UK & Ireland said:
The energy crisis is putting significant pressure on business, and forcing them to manage rising costs with constrained budgets. This could result in some businesses going into liquidation or administration.
While it is understandable for some to be concerned about higher energy bills, this will depend on the size of your business and how you use energy. Our research sheds some light on projected energy costs this winter for businesses and highlights the importance of using technology to monitor and optimize energy use.
These findings are only averages for the industry. Businesses will have higher or lower energy costs depending on how they operate and their energy efficiency measures.
The article Offices facing the highest increases in energy bills this winter appeared first on Human Resources News.
