Government should give financial help for energy efficiency measures
The survey, which included responses from over 2,100 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), finds that 36 per cent of respondents feel that grants for efficiency installations would help them manage and reduce their energy, with 19 per cent claiming that tax breaks would have a similar impact.
More information and financing options for measures such as insulation, LED lighting and solar panels are among the lowest scorers with respondents, with just eight and four per cent backing the suggestions respectively, while participants in rented properties cite feeling they have no influence over energy efficiency improvements on their site as a major barrier to implementing efficiency changes.
Only six per cent of respondents to the survey, which has also been published by British Gas, believe that installing smart meters should be the highest priority for the government and suppliers, with British Gas arguing that it is contacting its SME customers to explain the benefits of smart meters and to encourage them to apply for one online.
Mike Spicer, Director of Research and Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), believes the results demonstrate that getting the economics of investment right for energy efficiency is crucial to promoting take-up.
“At a time when businesses face growing upfront cost pressures from other sources, grants and tax breaks have an important role to play in offsetting the cost of new energy efficiency measures. On its own, more information won’t do the job,” he said.
Respondents claim that no one issue is preventing them from investing in energy efficiency measures, while the most frequently cited barriers were the marginal level of savings they might achieve, totalling 15 per cent, along with other investments taking priority and a lack of available funds, both of which were argued by 13 per cent of participants.
Gab Barbaro, Managing Director of British Gas Business, argues that it is “clear from this research” that businesses in rented and leased premises need more help from their commercial landlords and that new regulations to tackle the least energy-efficient premises “can’t come soon enough.”
“I’d urge all businesses to seek help from their supplier or landlord, and start with the basics. For example, by applying for a smart meter, businesses could much more accurately work out what’s driving their energy use and make considered decisions about how to reduce it.”
More than 70 per cent of respondents said they spend less than a tenth of their operating budget on energy, while only 13 per cent of businesses have seen their energy costs fall over the last three years. Meanwhile, 36 per cent claim they have seen their costs rise, 37 per cent report little or no change and 13 say they don’t know.
