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An energy broker can help secure good value contracts for your business by comparing offers from a wide range of suppliers, which can be a time-consuming process for a client. Brokers can quite often negotiate more competitive offers than are available by going direct to a supplier.
They deal with account queries direct with suppliers to ensure clients are free to work within their own businesses. In addition to this, a broker can provide a range of other services such as bill validation, data analysis and energy management services, site works & metering.
The majority of brokers, including Sherpa use a commission-based payment method which we are upfront about from day one and is confirmed on our Letter of Authority for ALL clients not just SME’s.
This means that the supplier offers you receive from us will contain that uplift in the unit rates or standing charge which will be paid to the broker.
A fixed-price energy contract means the price you pay for your energy usually* won’t change for the duration of the contract. There are some fixed contracts where some of the non-energy costs are reconcilable or pass and these need to be considered when selecting a contract type.
*all suppliers have certain clauses included in their terms and conditions
In contrast, a flexible energy contract allows you to track wholesale price movements in order to buy gas and electricity and that can work to your advantage or against you. This type of contract can be attractive to those open to risk.
Purchasing green energy can vary in price but is normally backed by REGO and sourced from renewable sources. Some suppliers provide zero carbon and to confirm that does not always mean 100% REGO/renewable.
Non-energy costs make up a percentage of a typical bill. These charges include the following: transmission network use of system, distribution use of system, balancing services use of system, capacity market, contracts for difference, renewable obligation and feed-in tariff, amongst others
In-house validation of all the invoices you receive can be a time-consuming and costly activity, which is why a lot of businesses believe the invoices will be correct or will be sorted in future billing. However, suppliers do make mistakes on invoices & estimated billing & incorrect contract charges can often mean that many businesses can overpay their energy bills by considerable amounts each year.
A professional bill validation service will ensure that you are being charged at the correct rates by your supplier and you only pay for the gas/electricity your business is using.
All invoicing errors are followed up directly with the suppliers to ensure the account bills correctly from the next billing cycle.
Energy and gas prices are affected by a wide range of factors ranging from movement on the oil market, supply issues, economic climates, the weather and major political events, amongst other reasons.
