Political and economic uncertainty in the UK leads to concern in energy prices

Three-quarters of energy managers said they are concerned about potential increases in energy prices, according to a survey commissioned by Npower Business Solutions, energy HQ. 

Despite recent global attention to the environment, with many net-zero pledges made by UK companies, only 18% of energy managers said that reaching sustainability goals was their top business priority.

These findings are likely a result of increasing political and economic uncertainty in the UK, with many energy managers believing that Brexit is the greatest factor that will affect their businesses energy prices in the future (32%).

40% of those surveyed also said they feared a no-deal Brexit will lead to consistently higher energy prices in the medium-term, with almost a third of these participants saying they felt unprepared for these potential increases.

When it comes to a potential change in government, respondents said that this is likely to lead to increased price instability (60%), greater regulation (50%) and the continued rollout of new energy-related policies to meet net-zero targets (56%).

However, many energy managers are already implementing a number of strategies and tools to help manage energy efficiency and better prepare their business for continued uncertainty.

Over half (52%) of managers have employed behaviour change programs and 41% have focused on engaging in a long-term energy management plan.

Employee behaviour change programs are highly effective in reducing business energy consumption, with 42.8% of energy managers reporting that it has led to the greatest reduction in energy use for their business.

Ben Spry, head of flexibility services at Npower Business Solutions says: ‘It is great to see UK business energy managers already taking positive steps to plan for the sector’s uncertain future.’

‘We are encouraging energy decision-makers to engage in long-term, strategic planning to help reduce risk and improve resilience.’

‘By incorporating demand-side response (DSR) schemes and other energy efficiency tools at their disposal into their longer-term plans, businesses won’t be forced to choose between cutting energy costs and hitting sustainability and decarbonisation targets.’

Earlier this year, academics argued that introducing a price cap for energy bills has ‘destroyed’ the UK’s competitive market for gas and electricity.

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