Frequently asked questions

An independent energy consultant benchmarks your electricity, gas and water contracts across a panel of suppliers, negotiates terms, manages the timing of your purchasing, and validates the invoices that follow. Independent means no supplier targets or volume incentives. Energy Planner is not tied to any supplier, and commission and fees are disclosed at quote stage.

In whichever way suits you best: commission included in your unit rate or standing charge, or a fixed consultancy fee agreed up front. For audits and bill recovery we can also work on a share of savings. Whichever you choose, the level is disclosed before you sign and shown in your supplier contract. See how we are paid.

Yes. Send a recent bill and your renewal dates and we come back with an independent view of your position. There is nothing to sign and no obligation to go further.

A Letter of Authority (LOA) lets us request your consumption data and contract details from your current supplier and ask suppliers for quotes on your behalf. It does not commit you to a contract or change your supply.

Brokers working with micro and small businesses must belong to an approved redress scheme, and suppliers must show the broker's commission in your contract. Energy Planner is registered with the Energy Ombudsman, and every fee is disclosed before you sign.

Yes. We manage tenders, contract end dates, metering and invoices across multi-site and multi-meter portfolios, so every site is covered and nothing rolls onto out of contract rates unnoticed.

Ideally six to twelve months before your contract ends. That leaves time to compare offers, choose when to buy rather than accepting whatever the market is on one day, and give notice where your contract requires it.

Your supply continues, but usually on out of contract or deemed rates, which are typically well above contracted prices. It is worth acting before the end date. If you are already out of contract, we can usually move you onto a new contract quickly.

A fixed contract locks your unit rates for the full term in one purchase, giving budget certainty but concentrating timing risk on a single day, with a supplier risk premium built into the rate. A flexible contract buys the same volume in tranches ahead of delivery, and you pay the weighted average price of those purchases. See risk-managed buying.

Usually, but the cheapest unit rate is rarely the cheapest contract. We compare offers across a broad supplier panel on total cost, including standing charges, capacity and non-commodity charges, and make sure the reliefs you are entitled to are applied.

No. A change of supplier happens in the background on the contract start date. The electricity and gas reaching your site do not change, only who bills you.

Everything on the bill that is not the energy itself: network charges such as DUoS and TNUoS, balancing costs, government policy costs, capacity market charges and metering. Together they now make up over half of a typical business electricity bill.

The fixed part of transmission charges rose sharply in April 2026 for many sites, especially those connected at high voltage. There are options, from a capacity review to relocating the metering point. Read our TNUoS guide.

Bill validation checks every invoice against your contracted rates, meter data and applicable charges, then challenges errors and recovers overpayments, including VAT and Climate Change Levy relief where it applies. Errors are common enough that it usually pays for itself.

Bill validation recovers overcharges, capacity reviews remove excess charges, reliefs such as CCL relief and BICS reduce levies, and half hourly data shows waste out of hours. Switching is only one lever.

MOP is your Meter Operator contract, covering the installation and maintenance of half hourly metering. DC/DA is Data Collection and Data Aggregation, which retrieve and process your consumption data for settlement. Every half hourly site needs them, and we arrange and manage both.

The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme exempts eligible manufacturers from some electricity policy costs. A business must be registered at Companies House, operate in an eligible sector, make eligible products in Great Britain and use at least 33 MWh of grid electricity a year at the site. Read our BICS guide.

Yes. With direct renewable supply, the output of named UK generators such as hydro, wind or solar is matched against your consumption through a licensed supplier, with the balance topped up from the grid.

Yes. We arrange export agreements (PPAs) for solar, hydro and other generators and compare offers so the power you send to the grid earns what it should.

Yes. We benchmark and negotiate business water contracts and review tariffs and consumption alongside energy, with the same fee disclosure at quote stage.