Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/425912
28 | 5Th - 11Th DEcEmbEr 2014 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Market view F or large organisations, energy manage- ment is becoming increasingly impor- tant, with changes such as Electricity Market Reform likely to increase prices. This means the business world has begun to approach energy management in a different, more focused manner. Although our demand for energy is growing faster than ever and our apparent reliance on technology is growing with it, the level of primary energy consumption in 2013 was 12 per cent lower than in 2000, and there are many things being done by businesses to reduce consumption across the board. Government too has changed its approach. This month marks one year to go before the compliance deadline for the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) in December 2015. This aims to cut EU energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2020. Energy use investigation projects, such as ESOS, aim to highlight the energy savings that can come from reduced consumption in large organisations. ESOS is mandatory for businesses that meet the relevant criteria; they must become educated in understand- ing the new compliance rules and the poten- tial risks involved in non-compliance. There are various routes to compliance. ESOS is part of the changing landscape for energy and utilities that large organi- sations will need to understand, prepare for and comply with. This new legislation requires larger UK companies to reassess how they use energy within the everyday running of the organisation, and plan for how they could potentially save energy. This will in effect reduce monthly outgoings by lowering bills. The audits review how energy is used within the organisation, with an on-site sur- vey of how things look on the ground, and include the charting of energy trends and calculation of energy intensity ratio. This information, together with the site survey findings, is used to compile recommenda- tions for energy savings opportunities. However, there is a danger that ESOS becomes just a tick box service. For it to work, organisations have to take the energy saving recommendations on board and implement them. It can be difficult to understand the audit recommendations and how they can be put into practice; knowing where to start is always a struggle. This is where specialist consultancies can assist, starting with help- ing organisations to understand the ESOS process and the various routes to compli- ance, producing the audits and then over- seeing the installation of new technology, helping to change organisational behav- iour and enabling day-to-day monitoring of energy usage. From our experiences, we see there is a new convergence of energy procurement and energy management within organisations. There appears to be a dialogue between these two areas that hasn't taken place pre- viously, with those who use and manage energy becoming more aware of the costs of usage, and those who procure the energy having a better awareness of how it is used within the organisation. This is a crucial turning point in the changing of attitudes and institutional behaviours surrounding energy consump- tion. Individuals within the company are now becoming increasingly aware of how they contribute to the company's collective energy usage. When it comes to integrating behaviours and attitudes towards energy responsibil- ity, the size of their workforce can make it harder for larger enterprises to communicate the energy saving message. Smaller com- panies have a more direct route in convey- ing messages to a workforce that is smaller in size and their employees might take on more responsibility for their personal energy consumption. Yet for enterprises of all sizes there is an energy management solution that will be fit for purpose. Energy management in itself is a broad description and can be broken down into a number of key areas: procurement; monitor- ing and management; reduction; and on site generation. Technological solutions oen prove to be more efficient for larger compa- nies with regard to saving energy, especially solutions that will enable a company to see when, where and how energy is being used across their whole estate. A smaller company will oen benefit more from changing staff behaviour with regard to general heat and electricity usage. However, the work required to alter staff behaviour should not be underestimated. A recent study by the Centre for Behaviour Change indicated that 63 per cent of peo- ple believed there was nothing they could do to mitigate energy price rises, which may suggest that it is just a 'switched on' minority who are affecting this change in consumption. In times of slow business growth, there is also an understandable reluctance to invest in energy savings; other business pressures such as winning new orders and paying staff take precedence and as a result energy man- agement may be overlooked. Every business – from the smallest to the largest – uses energy and water. Figures show that in 2013 energy consumption by the industry and service sectors increased by 2.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively. With legislation changing to enforce actions towards energy management, the UK's larger companies are entering a period of great opportunity to change and invest in meas- ures that will help to reduce their expendi- ture further down the line. Whether at an small business or a multi- site, multinational corporate business, deci- sion makers want to know that their utilities needs are being managed to better benefit their organisation, so that they can focus on running the business. Furthermore, on a macro scale, by reduc- ing their energy consumption, businesses can actively demonstrate their commitment to the environment. It is all about the people, planet, profit idea: the fact that businesses are helping to improve their people by changing their behaviour, who are in turn helping the planet and, crucially, improving profits. Tim Hipperson, director, Utilitywise Switch on to energy savings Tim Hipperson explains the growing interest in energy management among UK utilities' business customers as the deadline for the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme draws closer.