Energy management is becoming a strategic imperative for Australian businesses

Energy Action has published its 2016 Energy Insights Report, based on the company’s annual Energy Insights Survey. The results show that energy management is increasingly becoming a core strategic imperative for many businesses in Australia, with the focus now shifting from cost cutting to growth.

The survey involved 505 Australian businesses (34% Energy Action clients, 66% non-clients) across a diverse range of industry sectors, who were asked about how they buy their energy, including whether they sought help from energy brokers or consultants. It follows on from previous surveys conducted since 2012, providing Energy Action with “a unique understanding about prevailing trends in the energy sector”, according to CEO Scott Wooldridge.

“The results of this year’s survey indicate that energy management and procurement are increasingly becoming a core part of corporate strategy, and show ongoing growth in the number of businesses outsourcing these services,” said Wooldridge. Businesses also showed greater levels of understanding, awareness and maturity across many aspects of energy management explored by the survey, with some key findings being:

• Businesses view reducing electricity costs as essential to creating and maintaining competitive advantage, with 43% reporting that they now have a formal energy management strategy in place (up from 36% in 2014).
• Businesses have maintained a strong commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives — 72% say they have made investments in energy efficiency and sustainability programs (on par with 2014 result), while almost half (47%) indicated that these measures resulted in savings of over $10,000 per annum.
• Companies are moving towards self-reliance when it comes to energy supply — 23% say they generate some portion of their electricity supply using solar power (up from 14% in 2014).
• Businesses showed progress in energy market knowledge and understanding — 81% of respondents indicate that they understand energy efficiency and sustainability, and 71% indicate that they understand the wholesale electricity market (up from 70% and 56% in 2014 respectively).

The report suggests that this improved knowledge across all categories of energy-related topics is critical, as initiating an energy management program in an organisation usually requires a basic understanding of energy concepts. This is often needed to gain leadership commitment to develop and implement energy strategies and policies.

“While the findings of previous studies suggested that a critical shift was underway, the 2016 results reinforce a prevailing view that energy management has evolved from pursuing cost-cutting initiatives to making a strategic commitment to an integrated energy management approach,” said Wooldridge.

The report can be viewed at http://energyaction.com.au/energy-insights-survey-report/.