Electricity is more than “just” a utility. It’s vital to the life of your business and its operations. What was once a routine operational expense, however, has turned into an often volatile, strategic business risk. The need for understanding your energy on a detailed, granular level has never been greater.
Between wars, market fluctuations, Net Zero, and more, it has become painfully obvious how much our utilities truly cost. In March 2026, the ONS reported that 25% of UK businesses reported energy prices as a primary reason for having to raise prices. Energy is no longer “just” a bill to pay; it’s a strategic risk at an operational, financial, and infrastructure level.
Energy Costs
Let’s address the elephant in the room: the cost. The issue for businesses is no longer just the wholesale price of power. Increasingly, the pressure sits in the wider electricity cost stack: non-commodity and network charges such as TNUoS and DUoS, balancing costs, policy levies and supplier risk premiums. These costs now make up 60%–64% of a typical business energy invoice and scale the delivered price of electricity even when your underlying consumption remains unchanged. In real terms, npower has highlighted that from 2026, Transmission Network Use of System charges increased 60%+ year-on-year, adding around £25 per megawatt-hour for some business users.
That is an increase not easily swallowed up in a profit margin. Furthermore, businesses are using a lot more electricity. The increased electrification, including electric vehicle charging infrastructure, heat pumps and electrified heating systems, automated manufacturing equipment, advanced HVAC systems, automation and IT loads, is increasing site capacity requirements, peak demand exposure and network-charge sensitivity.
What to do? You cannot control external factors, but you can control demand profile, consumption visibility, load shifting, self-generation, power quality and investment planning.
Measure First
Most of us don’t think about our energy until the bill arrives. However, if you’re still getting a monthly energy bill, you’re not necessarily seeing the full picture of your spend or usage. For example, if you’re trying your best to make things as energy efficient as possible, how do you know if it’s working? How do you know your machinery is operating as efficiently (and therefore as cost-effectively) as possible? Do you know why one site’s bill is so much more than another?
That’s why you need an energy management system (EMS). No longer niche, these are a strategically valid choice. Using such systems gives you real-time data, and that gives you opportunities to identify waste, abnormal loads, avoidable peaks, power-quality issues and investment priorities. All before they become a preventable embedded cost.
Benchmark, Then Improve
The first step should always be to establish a benchmark. i.e. how much is it costing you? How much is each piece of electrification using? By establishing the benchmark, you have something to measure against. You’re able to monitor, measure, and improve on this with your changes and initiatives.
This is achieved by using an EMS like ours. With it, you get full control over every aspect of your spend, understanding what’s working and what’s not. You can have control, true strategic control. You can see your spend, core cast accurately, have evidence-led accountability, and know where to invest for the long term.
