Learn About Business Gas

Why is gas so expensive?

Never has energy been in the headlines so often. There are two main reasons for the high gas prices:

  1. In the 1970's gas prices were linked to oil to give price stability -see price curve at bottom of this page.
  2. The UK has become a net importer of natural gas for the first time.

A new pipeline opened from Norway on 1st Oct 2007 and millions of cubic metres of gas flooded into the UK. The Ormen Lange gas field will produce 70 million cubic metres a day and last between 10-15 years. Analyst believed this will drive down prices from 2007.

Unfortunately Norway built a spur onto this pipeline to Europe. In 2008 the Norwegian energy minister told the world that the UK was not a priority market. Hence we will not receive the security promised.

LNG was to be shipped into four main terminals from Quatar to supply 20% of our needs. The terminal completed on Teeside in January 2007 has yet to take a single shipment! The rest of the world is buying it at better prices than the UK.

How much is wholesale gas?

At present (July 08) the price that suppliers are paying for your gas to be delivered in early 2009 is 3.85 p/kWh

Call us now if your contract is finishing soon. To read more click here and then come back to us for a quote.

The uncertainty in the market, the lack of bulk storage in the UK and the reliance on gas to generate electricity make have pushed prices higher and higher.



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Your Prices:

Unlike the electricity market your gas is pre-bought and sold on by the energy companies. Your price will depend upon two main factors: your usage, which the companies are given by the network (Transco), and delivery charges. The further away from the terminals you are, the more transport costs you incur.

If your usage is in below ~750,000 kWh per year the prices will come from the gas companies general pricing structures which move every week. If your usage is above this level and into the 1,000,000’s the companies will go to the open market and get you a price that may be valid for only a day or few hours.

The day to day prices in the larger market reflect the open market conditions, if the Met Office tell us ‘its going to be the worst winter in history’ (see Nov 2005), if there is trouble in the middle east, if Russia cuts off a neighbour, the prices will fluctuate. Often there is not a ‘real’ supply issue, it is just the nerves of the market.

The longer term prices are influenced by how the gas supply for the UK is watched very carefully by the companies and the government. Plans are made months into the future. For the winter of 2006 the suppliers are telling us that it is potentially going to be ‘bad’.

For a more in depth view down load Business Gas Review

Getting a quote

Part of the role of Business Switch is to provide clients with quotes and supply contracts. If you would like a quote the basic information we would need is provided on your current supplier gas bill.

This is the most important piece of advice we can give our clients when coming to the end of their contract:

Ensure that you have sent your termination notice into your existing supplier when you get your renewal notice

Business Switch consultants will take the information and go to the major suppliers contract departments.

The role of your consultant is to use our relationships with these departments to negotiate a best price. This will involve requesting detailed prices from each company and ‘encourage’ each to be as competitive as possible by reducing their margins.

Alternatives to Gas

The role of BusinessSwitch is to reduce your costs in all your utility supplies.

Our first advice would be ‘Use Less Gas’

If your company has an environmental policy statement that includes reducing your carbon footprint you should consider replacing existing boilers with carbon neutral technology.

Such solutions would reduce you company carbon emissions and detach yourself from the need to buy gas at ever increasing prices and reduce your heating costs.

Solid fuel replacement:

Heat an office or unit or home up to 4,000 sq feet with carbon neutral fuel.

  • New or replacement boilers for environmentally friendly central heating and hot water supply
  • Grants available for £1,500 towards the boiler and installation costs
  • Dramatically reduce your heating costs using stable carbon-neutral
  • Renewable fuel from the UK
Electronically controlled boilers for central heating and production of hot water using natural combustibles. Compared to traditional boilers it warrants a large economic saving. It is used in many different areas including domestic, agricultural and industrial.

Size

Minimum space requirements are W = 885mm D = 850mm H = 1190mm. Other boiler sizes are available.

Grants available

• Business Switch can place clients in touch with Carbon Trust representatives for grants to business for carbon reduction.
• For domestic installations a government backed scheme provides a domestic grant of £1,500 towards the boiler and installation costs.
• There are also interest free loans over 4 years available to small and medium sized enterprises.

Fuels

Our boilers can be run on wood pellets, ‘uberfuel’ and cereals e.g. wheat, barley, animal feed.

Installation

Boilers can be sold on a supply only basis or trained technicians install the systems for you.

Filling and emptying

Either fill your integrated hopper occasionally or opt for an auto-into fuel system for minimum effort. This allows a large delivery of fuel into a large holding tank on a quarterly basis which is then piped to your boiler.
Emptying is also easy due to the huge efficiency of the boilers. Pellets produce less than 1% volume of ash. Pellets have an almost total combustion; the ash produced is a fine dust and is a source of free fertilizer easily spread on the gardens.