MONITORING & METERING


Bureau services for smarter energy management and billing


A lack of precision in energy monitoring and reporting presents challenges for many businesses, resulting in potentially costly inaccuracies. Nicoleta Sandu suggests a way to ensure smarter energy management and avoid overpayments.


Nicoleta Sandu


Bureau m anager at energy and sustainability consultancy Advantage Utilities


www.advantageutilities.com B


usinesses continue to face a difficult financial picture which has persisted for some time now, with over half a


million UK companies reported to be significantly financially at risk. At times like these, improving financial precision is an important factor in ensuring that budgets are as accurate as possible. This can make a big difference to businesses currently experiencing financial hardship. So how can technology play a


part in remedying this? Whether it’s increasing accuracy within billing, efficiently handling and preventing unexpected errors, or providing greater direction for a business, a bureau service exposes untapped potential when it comes to billing usage. In this article, I will set out three ways a bureau service can enable smarter energy management and consumption.


(1) Putting an end to inaccurate billing Inaccurate billing leads to inaccurate budgets. Whether businesses are overpaying or underpaying for consumption, the source of this issue remains the same - incorrect usage data based on out-of-date estimates. This leads to unreliability and creates confusion in consumption patterns as well as financial records. Whilst energy and utilities usage will


differ massively between businesses, the majority will use one of two types of meters for billing – either Half Hourly (HH) meters or Non Half Hourly (NHH) meters. The first type, HH meters, automatically sends readings to the data collector, whereas the second type, NHH meters, essentially require businesses to provide the readings themselves. In cases where usage readings are not provided regularly, this would likely result in estimated billing being used, leaving the door open to inaccurate billing. This is an issue for both types of


EIBI | JULY � AUGUST 2024


meters, with HH meters also being billed by inaccurate estimates when miscommunication with data collectors happens. Additionally, our data on bill validation reveals that over 60% of NHH meter bills last year were based on estimates. On the road to financial precision, this is a significant obstacle.


This is where a bureau service


comes in. Enabling businesses to automatically highlight where billing inaccuracies are found, a bureau service can monitor kVA (kilo-volt- amperes) consumption versus the kVA set for each meter within a business – used to determine energy use. This stops inaccurate billing that otherwise would have continued unnoticed, increasing accuracy within the budgets of businesses.


(2) Reclaiming overpayments and time


Ensuring that any overpayments are reclaimed is essential. Where discrepancies are present within energy and utility bills during the validation process, a bureau service automatically highlights errors in contracted rates, taxes and/or levies. A bureau service can also be tailored to the individual needs of each business, so where one may use more gas or produce more waste, greater insight can be given to these variables to ensure all costs can be reclaimed. After errors have been identified, the bureau service provider then


steps in to liaise with the business’s suppliers to confirm these, reclaiming incorrect charges where an overpayment has been made. The value of reclaimed overpayments should not be understated. For example, since the start of 2024, we have discovered over £286,000 in overcharges and have already succeeded in recovering more than £245,000 of this. We will continue our work on these overcharges until the entire amount has been recovered. But it’s not just overpayments that


are reclaimed when using a bureau service. The time of accounts payable staff is too. Currently, approximately 10% of bills have at least one error present, but identifying and fixing any discrepancies found during the accounts payable process is a time- consuming task. Inefficiency within the process has led to 25% of time being spent on handling exceptions within the invoicing process. However, businesses can save time by using


a bureau service to automatically identify and fix any discrepancies. As well as reclaiming overpayments, a bureau service further saves resources which can then be deployed more effectively, boosting the work of a business.


(3) Better planning enabling better energy management Better planning is required if businesses are to operate as efficiently as possible when it comes to energy and utilities management. To fully enable this, a comprehensive understanding of a business is needed, including around consumption history, payment records, and carbon calculations for electricity and gas usage. A bureau service can provide this for businesses via a monthly report pack which contains this key information and could influence the decision- making process in providing a greater degree of precision. What’s more, the need for businesses to invest in ESG reporting is growing. This adds additional pressure on business leaders and managers to invest in better energy and utilities management as part of that. So, with this movement, a bureau service is becoming an indispensable tool for businesses – covering energy usage, waste, water, and fuel consumption within an organisation, as well as vehicle usage too. Think of it this way: behind any of


your favourite movies was a good script. The intentions and direction of the story has to be written in advance and tracked when filming takes place. A monthly report pack works just like this. It enables a holistic view of a business’s portfolio, including their consumption, payments, and carbon emissions, just like a script guides a movie. This is the most effective way to ensure that energy management improves over time.


A bureau service is an effective way for businesses to reclaim costs on energy and utilities bills


A clearer picture To conclude, a bureau service is an effective way for businesses to not only reclaim costs on their energy and utilities bills, but also to reclaim time and plan more effectively with increased business insight. Better energy management and greater financial precision rely on these factors. By investing in these tools, businesses can benefit significantly, increasing confidence in bills received and in their energy management process, driven forwards by better planning and increased insight into business usage. As financial difficulty continues, I would urge businesses to consider how a bureau service could benefit their operations today. ■


13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36