New research from British Gas found that businesses use 46 percent of their energy consumption in hours when the business is closed. That translates to paying nearly £1 in every £2 of their electricity bills for off-hours usage. The utility based their figures on data from more than 6,000 smart meters.

British Gas points to a number of practices causing the after-hours power drain, including: lighting parking structures during weekends when nobody is at work; pubs keeping fruit machines switched on 24 hours a day, every day of the year; mall retail shops keeping display lights on even when the shopping center is closed; and vending machines left switched on in offices overnight and over weekends.

By simply turning off parking structure lights on weekends could save £1,200 on their annual British Gas electricity bill, the utility reports. 

To help businesses better manage energy use and reduce costs, British Gas has launched Business Energy Insight, the first service of its kind that the utility says is designed “to show businesses how, when and where they are using electricity and proactively help them to save money through energy efficiency measures.” The service was tested by 100 business customers.

Dawn Ryan, from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), reports that during the trial period his company cut their energy costs in half.  “Managing our costs has been our number one priority since the economic downturn. But before signing up to the trial, I had no idea of the amount of money I was wasting by not paying closer attention to my electricity bills. Business Energy Insight has opened my eyes to this. Now I’m working with my account manager Dom Stanford to take steps to reduce the amount of money I use on things like heating and other electrical appliances when they’re not being used. For example, we identified a particularly energy intensive piece of equipment that was needlessly using a lot of power. By addressing this, we saved a £9,000 over the course of the year. It’s making a real difference to the business as we can invest these savings elsewhere.”

Those who sign up to Business Energy Insight will have a smart meter installed; 24 hour access to an online dashboard showing hourly, daily, weekly and monthly electricity usage; and support from over 100 account executives specifically trained to help customers implement energy saving measures.

Marc England, British Gas Business Managing Director of SME Energy, adds: “Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the UK. They tell us that reducing their costs is essential to competing in a challenging economy. However, many don’t understand their electricity costs, and how they could reduce them. Business Energy Insight has been designed by businesses for businesses to provide our customers more accurate bills and the insight to reduce their costs and improve their competitiveness.”

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