Fifth of business people in the dark over energy bills

A report from utility consultancy Utilitywise has found that a fifth of business people in the UK do not currently understand their energy bills.

Its data shows that 60 per cent of businesses are unable to tell the difference between estimated and actual readings, and a quarter of businesses do not understand the term ‘unit rate’. As many as 2.19 million UK businesses do not check their energy bills at all, despite the fact that 75 per cent of SME’s believe they pay too much for utilities.

Utilitywise deputy chief executive Andrew Richardson said:”Businesses need help to navigate the energy market. That starts with understanding your statements. The terminology can be confusing, but it’s important to get a handle on it because it impacts a business’ bottom line: if you don’t know that you’re paying an estimated bill you can be in for a nasty surprise.”

“That’s why we’re determined to help all businesses to get the skills they need to pay the bills. It’s why we’ve set out all the information businesses need to better understand their utility statements in our Utilitywise guide, and why we’re hosting tweet chats to answer common questions.”

The online guide has been created to help businesses decipher their bills ahead of the price rises Utilitywise says are expected by 46 per cent of small businesses next year, it said. It includes tips such as understanding terminology used in bills, checking meters against bills, and understanding energy consumption as a percentage of business overhead.