Energy market monthly summary: July 2023
Full pricing report:
Electricity Wholesale Prices Only
Gas Wholesale Prices Only
This information is designed to help you decide if it’s a good time to think about renewing your business energy supply contract. It shows month-on-month price movement by comparing prices at the start of consecutive months.
The tables above give a full breakdown based on contract period. This is a simplistic view of the current market, designed to make it easy to understand. As each supplier purchases energy differently, the prices will not exactly reflect any offers you might receive. There is also a lag between the prices currently being offered by suppliers and the wholesale prices shown above. This is because energy suppliers have to buy energy over a long period and would have purchased some energy during the recent energy crisis which will still be blended into any prices offered.
Future prices change daily so please note prices could vary from the numbers shown above, either up or down.
There’s also a reference price from the past so that you can see how wholesale prices are compared to how they used to be in 2021 before the current energy crisis.
The information detailed in this report shows the ‘wholesale’ price of electricity and gas which due to the current market conditions make up 40%+ of your total energy invoice. The remaining part of your bill is made up of standing charges which include the costs of maintaining the electrical/gas distribution systems, government driven fees aimed at developing more renewable energy on the electricity and gas networks, suppliers profit margin and broker commission if you buy your energy contracts via a broker.
Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS)
The EBDS is now in place from April 1st.
It is fair to say that for new fixed contracts signed now, it’s irrelevant and offers no support as the discount only kicks in if the wholesale market rises above 30.2p/kWh electric and 10.7p/kWh gas. The tables at the start of this blog show that the wholesale market is currently well below those levels.
If you signed a fixed contract after the 30th November 2021, the scheme applies if the wholesale market was higher than the numbers above on the day you signed the contract. Again, the support is very limited. For instance, if the wholesale market was at 50p/kWh for electric when you signed the contract, the discount you will get on the wholesale element of the contract is only 1.961p/kWh. For gas, the discount is only 0.0697p/kWh.
Read about how your business will be affected
Electricity Generation Mix
The pie chart below gives an indication of how much green energy was generated in the UK last month.
This is designed to help track the increasing levels of renewable energy in the market and to explain why it’s becoming easier to buy green electricity without a huge premium.
Do you need help?
At Zellar we have access to energy suppliers that are currently offering prices and contracts. The prices we are able to access are commission free so you should save circa £600 per fuel per annum by using Zellar rather than an energy broker. Not all green energy offerings are equal, and Zellar always advises businesses to be aware of greenwashing when selecting a green energy supplier. Zellar can tell you how green each supplier is so you can be sure of the sustainable nature of any energy supply.
It’s interesting to note that the premium for a truly green electricity supply contract is relatively small compared to the wholesale cost of energy, so this should still be a key decision with any energy contract you are thinking of entering into.
If you need support then please contact us ASAP at contact@zellar.com so, we can help you review your options. Remember, there is no commission in the Zellar platform so you will save money if you currently use an energy broker.