Business energy for manufacturing

Last reviewed 2 September 2026 by Utilities Made Simple · independent, whole-of-market, supplier-paid — how we are paid

The four charges worth attacking

1. Available capacity. You pay monthly for the kVA you have agreed, used or not. Sites that have replaced plant with more efficient equipment, or moved a production line, are very often carrying capacity set for a factory that no longer exists. Twelve months of half-hourly data shows the true peak — see capacity charges and kVA explained.
2. Excess capacity penalties. The other direction: exceeding your agreed capacity attracts penalty rates. Both errors are found in the same review.
3. Reactive power. Motors, compressors and older lighting drag power factor down and attract a charge. Correction equipment often pays back inside two to three years on sites paying meaningful monthly amounts — see what is a reactive power charge?
4. Red-band distribution. Shifting flexible load — batch processes, charging, water heating — out of winter weekday late afternoons reduces DUoS directly and costs nothing but scheduling.

Climate Change Agreements

Energy-intensive businesses in eligible sectors can hold a Climate Change Agreement, which gives a substantial reduction in the Climate Change Levy in exchange for meeting efficiency targets. It is administratively real work, and it is run through sector associations rather than through your supplier. If you are in a qualifying sector and do not hold one, it is worth an hour finding out why not.

Pricing a manufacturing site properly

Half-hourly electricity currently prices at 19–24p per kWh against 22–30p per kWh for standard business meters — but on a half-hourly supply the unit rate is only one component, and two quotes with the same headline rate can differ materially once the non-commodity elements are compared. Ask for quotes on a consistent basis: fully fixed, or pass-through, but not one of each, and compare the total modelled annual cost.

Gas and process load

Gas at 6–9p per kWh is often the larger of the two bills on a heat-intensive process. It is also the one that gets renewed by default while attention goes on electricity. Price both together, ideally on the same end date so the whole thing is one exercise.

What we would look at first

Twelve months of half-hourly data, the capacity agreement, and the reactive power line. Those three sit on the bill you already have, cost nothing to review, and are where we most often find money on a manufacturing site — before anyone talks about switching supplier at all.

What a manufacturing site typically uses

We publish consumption benchmarks only where we can stand behind the figure, and the honest answer for this sector is that the spread between sites is wide enough that a single national average would mislead you more than it helped. Building age, occupancy, plant and hours drive far more variation than sector does.

What is useful is your own number against comparable sites. Send us twelve months of bills for one site and we will tell you where it sits — free, and with no obligation to do anything about it.