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How to Compare Business Energy Quotes

Comparing quotes is arithmetic, not alchemy. You are lining up the same three ingredients every time: how many kilowatt-hours you expect, the pence-per-kWh stack, and everything else that bills monthly before VAT. Skip one layer and the “cheapest” PDF wins even when it costs £3k more per year.

Next step: If you use under about 50,000 kWh a year, you can get a quote in under 90 seconds online — fast, no obligation. Larger supply, half-hourly metering, or prefer chat? Use the contact page.

Build one master spreadsheet tab

Columns we use with clients: supplier, product name, contract months, commodity p/kWh, standing £/day, pass-through flags (Y/N), CCL included? (Y/N), REGO adder if any, broker fee p/kWh, security deposit, exit fee reference. Feed a single cell with annual kWh—for example 48,000—and let formulas output subtotals. That stops the classic error where Offer A at 25.2p beats Offer B at 26.1p while B’s standing charge is 95p/day cheaper and includes CCL.

Worked contrast: Nottingham office on 38,000 kWh

Quote 1: 25.4p/kWh, 320p/day standing, 36-month fix, CCL quoted on top using HMRC’s published main electricity rate for their tax year. Quote 2: 26.0p/kWh “all-in commodity + CCL”, 260p/day standing. Annual commodity+calc line for Quote 1 lands near £9,652; Quote 2 near £9,884—Quote 1 wins on numbers. Flip standing charges to 420p versus 240p and Quote 2 suddenly wins by £657 despite the higher unit rate. That is why café owners glaze over when salespeople yell “we’re a full penny cheaper.”

Table: line items to insist on in every quote pack

Market timing without becoming a trader

Quotes reference forward curves when desks hedge. If NBP gas futures jump 8% between Monday and Thursday, two “identical” verbal holds diverge. Date-stamp PDFs and reject stale screenshots. For a longer methodology on drivers, read how business energy prices are set; pair with understanding unit rates so your team shares vocabulary.

Quality checks before you countersign

• MPAN last digits match the bill header you used for kWh.
• VAT rate stated (20% standard vs 5% reduced domestic-type cases).
• Contract start aligns with termination notice served on the incumbent.

Scenario weighting: do not let one outlier month pick your tariff

Procurement teams sometimes anchor on the last invoice kWh, which is dangerous after a mild winter or a maintenance shutdown. Build a trailing-twelve-month profile plus a forward scenario (+/−10%) and label each quote with the consumption band you used. If Quote A wins at 95,000 kWh but Quote B wins at 105,000 kWh, the “right” answer depends on capex you already approved—document the assumption explicitly in the approval email so auditors see diligence, not guesswork.

Where day/night splits exist, weight registers using actual cumulative reads, not rule-of-thumb percentages. A 2p/kWh swing on the night register is irrelevant if only 18% of kWh land there; the same swing on an 85% night load (storage chill) dominates. Export a pivot with month, day kWh, night kWh, and blended average before you accept a broker summary.

Finally, compare total cost including standing charges, CCL at the correct year rate (electricity main rate £0.00775/kWh for 2025–26 unless you qualify for relief) and realistic VAT. A spreadsheet that stops at commodity p/kWh is how finance directors get surprised in month ten when DUoS passthrough posts.

Name a single owner for version control: when five people forward partially redacted tariffs, someone inevitably mixes a 36-month quote with a 24-month acceptance. A one-page summary table—supplier, term, unit, standing, fees, exit terms, date issued—stops that failure mode cold.

Related guides

Tighten procurement with how to negotiate your contract and standing charges, or browse the energy hub.