Business energy comparison,

There is no price cap on business energy rates. Instead, the government has offered a series of discount schemes for business energy users. The Energy Price Relief Scheme (EBRS) gave businesses discounted energy rates for six months from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. It has been replaced by the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS), which will run from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. This is available to businesses on fixed-price contracts signed on or after December 1, 2021, as well as deemed and out-of-contract rates. The discount is subject to a minimum threshold. 

As with EBRS, the lower your contracted rates while the EBDS scheme is running, the lower your discounted bills will be. But rates won't be discounted any lower than 30.2p for electricity and 10.7p for gas. To find out more, check out our guide to the Energy Bills Discount Scheme.

Business energy prices are always changing. The only way to make sure you’re on the best deal is to carry out a business energy comparison and switch. And remember, signing up to a new deal as soon as your switching window opens can help you lock in lower rates and beat any energy price rises.

Because of the way business energy is bought and sold, rates are constantly changing. Different suppliers offer various deals depending on when you compare and switch - so the suppliers that offer the cheapest rates are always changing. When it comes to securing a reliable business energy deal, price isn’t the only thing you should consider though – you need to make you choose a deal that best suits your business needs.

Deemed contracts are a type of energy deal suppliers use for businesses that have reached the end of an energy contract without switching suppliers or signing up to a new one with their current supplier.

The rates on deemed contracts are usually among the highest charged by suppliers, and prices are considered the least competitive in the energy market. Avoid overpaying for energy by switching to a new deal before your current contract expires.

When you compare business energy prices and switch with any broker, comparison site or third-party intermediary (TPI), you’ll need to sign a Letter of Authority (LoA).

As this is a recognised legal document, it follows a standard format and states that while a third party can gather information, negotiate and submit notice of termination on your behalf, they do not have the right to agree a contract without your consent.

When you switch with Bionic, signing this letter confirms that you’ve given us permission to handle the switch with both your old and new suppliers. But we can’t agree to a contract on your behalf until you’ve signed the LOA. This means you stay in complete control of the switch.

When you switch with Bionic, we use smart data to find a lot of the information we need to help you switch to a better deal. This means we only need your postcode to start a business energy comparison.

We’ll take care of the switch for you, and even look after your renewals to make sure you never overpay for energy again.

Business energy switches usually take around six weeks to complete, but it all depends on when your current contract expires - even if you agree on rates well in advance of your contract's end date, you won't be switched to your new supplier until this deal has expired.

If you're on a non-domestic energy deal then you can only agree to a new contract when your current one is up for renewal. This can be anything up to ten months before the contract's end date, so it's worth keeping an eye on the date. If you sign up for the Bionic Digital Renewal service, we can take care of this for you.

No. The switching process is usually straightforward, and your business will face no disruption when you change supplier. And you won't need to worry about your new provider installing anything at your business premises, as they’ll use the same pipes and cables as your old supplier.

If you’re moving into a new business premises, your energy contract will either be transferred to the new property, or it will be cancelled. If it’s cancelled, you’ll be on an expensive ‘deemed rates’ contract with that property’s existing supplier, and you should set up a new deal as soon as possible.

To find more, check out our guide to your business energy when relocating.

Yes. If your business uses more than 55,000 kWh of electricity or 200,000 kWh of gas each year, or it has a half-hourly meter, energy suppliers will fall under a large business classification.

At Bionic, we have a team dedicated to large business energy users and offer a bespoke procurement and bill validation service. To find out more, visit our guide to industrial and large business energy.

If you work from home, even as a sole trader, you may be eligible for a business energy deal. While you don’t necessarily need to take out a business contract, doing so means you can take advantage of cheaper business rates by running a commercial energy comparison.

To qualify for a commercial business contract, you’ll need to prove that you work from home and that more than half of the energy you use there is for business purposes. This might sound like a lot, but just using heating and lighting while going about your day-to-day business matters is often enough to take you over this threshold. But you will have to deduct any power used by appliances that would be on regardless of your business, such as fridges and freezers.

Yes, British small businesses are the backbone of our economy and play a big part in our customer community. Business energy rates can vary depending on the size of your business, but if you run a micro business then your contract might work differently to other non-domestic energy contracts. For more information, and to find out whether you run a micro business, check out our guide to micro business energy contracts. 

Bionic sits somewhere in between a broker and a price comparison service. We use smart data to get most of the information we need online, like a price comparison website but we use real human experts to sort the finished deals. This lessens the amount of form-filing you need to do and cuts the length of time you need to spend on the phone with an expert. Learn more about energy brokers for business here. 

We don’t charge you for our comparison service. If you switch with Bionic, we’ll let you know exactly how much commission your supplier will pay us before your contract is signed. Read more in our blog on our commission transparency.

MPAN stands for Meter Point Administration number, and is used by suppliers to identify the electricity supply at your property. Also known as the ‘Suppy Number’ or ‘S Number’, this is a 21-digit number that begins with an ‘S’ and should be displayed on your electricity bill, but not on the meter itself.

MPRN stands for Meter Point Reference Number, and is used by suppliers to identify the gas supply at your property. Also known as an ‘M Number’, your MRPN will be between six and ten digits, which you can find on your business gas bill or on your meter.

For everything you need to know about meter numbers, check out Bionic’s guide to MPAN and MPRN.

If you run an energy-intensive business that requires more than one meter, or you operate across a number of different sites, you might have multiple energy contracts, with multiple contract end dates from multiple suppliers.

If this is the case, a multi-site energy contract could save you time and money, as it will cover the billing for more than one meter, whether at a single business premises or in multiple locations. To find out more, check out our guide to multi-site energy.