How To Keep Your Operational Costs Down In Unprecedented Times

A Short Article On 3 Ways To Optimise Your Energy Bills Immediately

The Coronavirus pandemic is a pressing concern on our minds at the moment and there is an urgent need for businesses to keep their operational costs down. 

It is triggering vast economic challenges and uncertainty for many businesses as it spreads across every layer of the Australian economy and the global financial system.

In light of these recent events, I have written a short and snappy article on some of the immediate changes businesses can explore to reduce their energy costs to keep more money in their back pocket.    

1. Negotiate your energy retail contract  

This is the most known strategy and something every business should be exploring. This seems simple, but there are a lot of strategies a broker can employ to keep your costs down. 

In the simplest sense, we can help by putting your energy contract out to tender to our network of up to 13 energy retailers who essentially fight for your business. We can often secure rates

We’re always looking to the future for our clients and what most businesses don’t realise is if they are in the middle of a time-bound contract, Choice Energy can negotiate and secure your next retail contract. Many businesses are exploring this as a means to lock in the rates before they are expected to rise again. Also, if you secured your contract when prices were high we can also arrange a “smoothed” rate by extending your contract out one more year at a reduced rate. 

From manufacturing, education, aged care to hospitality, we’ve seen businesses save thousands on their costs through these strategies. 

2. Take a deep dive into your network charges

If you’re a large energy user, you’ll notice network charges called out as a line item on your energy bill. From our experience, these can often account for up to 50% of your total energy bill. 

If you have never had your network charges reviewed by a third party, we strongly encourage you to do so. Many businesses perceive these costs as simply “pass through” charges, but they can be negotiated. After all, the last thing businesses want to be doing is being charged for something that isn’t a true representation of their energy profile. 

Transitioned to solar recently? This month we saved a client $10,000 annually, by identifying a more relevant (and cheaper) network tariff based on the business’ new post-solar energy profile. 

3. Future-proof your business energy with turnkey solar

The power market is increasingly volatile. To combat this, the perfect way to keep costs down and take back control is by reducing your reliance on the grid. The coal mines will continue to close and right now there is no government-led back-up energy plan in place. 

The cost of solar has reduced dramatically over the years and with the introduction of government rebates, it's more affordable than ever before. 

As you may know, in mid-March the Australian government announced a sweeping list of benefits for businesses, including raising the Instant Asset Tax Write-Off to an unprecedented $150,000 until 30 June 2020, a x5 increase for businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million.

For a $100,000 system, this is a $27,500 tax saving from the government if the project is delivered by 30 June 2020 which means more money in your back pocket. 

If the project is delivered by 30 June 2021, the business can also claim 50% of the depreciation costs. 

For businesses looking at sustainable solutions to keep their operational costs down now and into the future, there is a strong reason for businesses to take advantage of these tax breaks. 

This doesn’t take into account the additional Government rebates we can secure on your behalf. It can take several months to receive grid approval from the energy distributor, so we’re encouraging in a position to act,

For those of you who haven’t connected with me yet - despite being a pom, I’m a champion of Australian business and my company Choice Energy creates bespoke brokering solutions with a focus on reducing your energy costs with minimal to no impact on cash flow. 

If you would like to know more and educate yourself on how you can radically reduce your company’s power bills in these unprecedented times, I would like to invite you to join my free live online webinar being held on Thursday April 30, at 11am.

Simply click the link below to register and I look forward to connecting with you soon. 

Cheers, Alan