Companies play a huge role in the energy transition, as they consume and manage energy on a daily basis. Whether they are small companies or large multinationals, they all have energy, lighting, air conditioning and power needs.
This article focuses on these companies, the end customers of energy services companies and providers. What are their energy challenges? Do they have energy professionals? How do they contribute to energy efficiency? Keep on reading to find out.
As a start, we want to clarify that by “end-customer” we refer to all participants who indicated that they are not in the energy sector.
Having said that, End Customers come in all shapes and forms. The respondents to this survey work in sectors as varied as education, public administration, retail, offices and hospitality.
Of these, 55% said their role is directly related to energy management in their company.
And what are these roles?
According to the response of the participants in the Energy Management 2021 Survey:
- 19% said to work as an energy manager,
- 18% as an energy project manager,
- 18% as a sustainability manager, a new role on the rise among companies.
To that 55% of professionals who perform different energy management functions in their companies, we can add the 12% who indicated that they are facility managers, as these profiles dedicate in most cases a large part of their time to energy management as well.
Energy Costs and Sources of Energy Consumption in Businesses
In the survey, we asked about energy consumption and which areas are the most energy-consuming for our participants.
Did you know that more than 32% say that energy-related costs account for more than 10% of their total operating costs and that almost 50% estimate their annual energy costs to be more than €100,000?
In particular, 12% estimate their annual energy costs to be more than €1 million.
Imagine the potential for energy savings that these companies may have without even knowing it!
But where do buildings consume the most energy?
In general, participants agree that HVAC/HVAC is the most energy-intensive component in their buildings, followed by industrial equipment and lighting.
Another aspect that has been of great concern to companies has been high energy prices in 2021. As it has been a concern for a few months already, we asked them:
“How has the relentless increase in energy prices affected your costs?”
39% say that during 2021 their energy costs have increased by more than 10%. In particular, almost 10% say their costs have risen by more than 20%.
To better understand the extent to which energy costs can rise, let’s recreate the following scenario:
Imagine that your company is one of those that previously said its annual costs are around €100,000 and sees this increase by 20%. In other words, your energy cost will have become €20,000 more in one year.
We know, it is a very global calculation that must take more variables into account, but this example makes us think that the need to invest in energy efficiency in our companies is more important than ever. With a well-planned energy efficiency project, and the right professionals, you can dedicate that cost to the project and obtain an even greater return on investment (ROI).
If you want to make a first estimate of the investment you will need in your energy efficiency project and what your ROI will be, we explain how to do it here.
End Customer Energy Management Challenges
When we asked the participants whether their company’s energy management strategy was effective, we were surprised that 49% said NO, and 22% said that they did not yet have a defined strategy. In other words, only 19% consider their energy management strategy to be effective.
The reasons why the vast majority have this perception of their strategies may be the challenges they face in managing energy within the company.
When we asked them about their top 3 challenges, we found that these were:
- Starting new energy efficiency projects (56%).
- Verifying energy savings from their projects (54%)
- Detecting new savings opportunities in existing projects (51%)
To this top 3 list, we can add one more that stands out: achieving cost reductions in the current scenario of rising energy prices (46%).
One of the main lessons to extract from the survey includes the increasing importance that Energy has in organisations across sectors. The fact? Everyone needs energy. But managing it effectively is key to reducing the impact on the planet’s resources while saving costs for organisations.
If you want to read the full report, you can download it for free here. And if you want to stay up to date with our articles, tips and reports, do subscribe to our energy blog here.
