Top 4 tips for 2022 (and beyond)
In May of 2022, the Australian Energy Regulator announced that the default electricity price would be rising by an average of between 5 and 8.2% across Australia. This means that coming into winter, businesses are going to be hit with much larger bills. With many small businesses only beginning to recover from their Covid losses, this is another frustrating burden on Australian industries. While there is no quick fix, there are many ways in which changes, both small and large, can help businesses save thousands on their energy bills.
Here are Shine On’s biggest tips to help businesses save on energy costs.
1. Switch to LED lighting (and upgrade!)
For businesses that have not yet upgraded to LED lighting, this is a simple and cost-effective solution to mitigate energy costs.
You can save up to 80% on lighting energy costs, with brighter lights and no warm-up time. LED lights also last five to 10 times longer than metal halides.
Local, state and federal governments want you to switch and provide incentives in the form of subsidies. In Victoria, for example, the VEU provides a subsidy that allows accredited companies like Shine On to offer up to 80% upfront discounts on product purchase and installation. Between the upfront price reduction and energy savings, businesses regularly see very fast returns on their investments.
While many businesses are aware of the saving from switching to LEDs, what is sometimes lesser known is the savings available even if you already have LEDs.
As with most technology these days, lighting tech moves extremely quickly. This is why we constantly revisit sites to explain how much money and energy they can save by upgrading to the latest technology LEDs.
2. Switch to Solar (and look into PPA’S)
Many businesses have unutilised roof space available to accommodate solar panels and most operate during the day, making them prime candidates for solar. This is often seen as a large investment for business, however, with energy prices increasing, payback periods are falling rapidly. Moreover, subsidies are available through:
- Small scale technology certificates (STCs)
- VEECs for large scale solar (Victoria only)
- Solar Small Business Program (Victoria only)
Subsidies can reduce the cost of a system by up to 60%.
For those businesses that still deem solar too large an investment, there is the option of entering a Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
A PPA means that a solar system gets installed on your property but is owned by a PPA partner. The PPA partner sells you back the electricity at an agreed rate, much lower than the regular cost of electricity (up to 50% less). In addition, as the owner of the solar system, the PPA provider will take care of all repairs and maintenance and so they have a vested interest in purchasing the best quality technologies available.
3. Upgrade appliances (and hunt for subsidies)
Many businesses around Australia use old appliances which often have terrible energy ratings and are therefore not only bad for the environment but bad for the pockets of business owners with rising electricity costs. In hospitality and retail environments, a big culprit of this is refrigeration. Modern refrigeration technology can save between 50-70% on energy consumption compared to the old models still in use.
Just as state and federal subsidies exist for solar and LED, subsidies can pop up at all levels of government regarding different energy-saving initiatives. These are great to stay in the loop with as they often allow businesses to save money on upgrading appliances, which in turn saves on energy costs. Currently hospitality and retail businesses in NSW can get a new fridge at absolutely no cost.
4. Save with a Virtual Energy Network
The Virtual Energy Network (VEN) is the smarter solution for businesses looking to invest in solar. The VEN enables excess energy generated and/or stored from a solar system to be distributed to other sites or members of the network, rather than selling back to the grid. The platform transforms the way in which energy is managed from the traditional site-by-site model, to a model which allows control over how energy is sourced, generated, stored and who it is distributed to – such as your other owned properties, staff, suppliers or tenants.
