How Businesses Can Offset More Electricity Price Hikes in 2023

On This Page:

• Arrange for a Power Quality Audit
• Improve Your Power Factor with PFC
• Install a High Quality Solar Power System
• A Combination of Solar and PFC
• Plan Ahead Before Price Hike
• Footnote

Rocketing energy prices have been dominating the news in Australia and globally. The gas price has jumped to an all-time high, taking electricity prices with it and impacting households and businesses. While Australian wholesale energy prices in September and October 2022 seemed to have dipped as we head into warmer spring weather and solar energy output increases, the energy crisis continues and may not end. The Australian Financial Review predicted retail electricity prices could increase by at least 35% in 2023, spurred by rising wholesale energy costs. In this article, we outline a few steps that businesses can take to offset rising energy prices.

Arrange for a Power Quality Audit

Your electricity bill covers various usage and charges, one of which is a charge for the level of demand a business has on the network for a specific period of the day. A Power Quality Audit allows our engineers to gather all the data required to assess and analyse the existing energy efficiency of a property. From here, we are best positioned to work with onsite engineers, consultants and contractors to reduce the kVAr, or ‘reactive’ power, to help reduce your power bill. Read here for more information about Power Quality Audit and what is involved.



Improve Your Power Factor via Power Factor Correction (PFC)

Suppose a Power Quality Audit identified your business paying thousands of dollars in demand (kVAr) charges. In that case, a custom-built Power Factor Correction Unit will help to reduce your electricity bill. A Power Factor Correction Unit consists of capacitor modules and a controller that works as a buffer between your incoming power supply and your main distribution panel. If your business already has PFC equipment installed, we recommend a comprehensive Power Factor Correction service on a routine basis to ensure your PFC is delivering its maximum efficiency.

Once the Power Factor Correction has been installed or serviced, we calculate the new kVAr from collected data and compare it to historical figures. These numbers typically illustrate a dramatic improvement in a company’s energy efficiency and, therefore, a reduction in energy bills.



Install a High-Quality Solar Power System

It is proven that Solar Power Systems can help to reduce electricity bills. It is reported that at its peak, household solar in South Australia met 92% of the state's needs in a single day (Source: ABC News). Early adopters of solar in the Commercial and Industrial sectors are seeing their investment paid off in September and October 2022 as solar outputs increase. Solar power works by converting UV rays into electricity. For electricity users, this means they are generating their electricity instead of relying on power generated by the grid. Beyond reducing your power bill, solar power is a great way to 1offset your business' carbon emissions.

Need more convincing? Read here about how Mercedes Benz Australia's decision to install a 99.9kW solar power system is estimated to help them save more than $20,000 in power bills each year.



A Combination of Power Factor Correction and Solar Power?

For many businesses in the commercial and industrial sectors, a combination of Power Factor Correction and Solar Power might be the answer to offset the energy price increases in 2023. Not only will you generate your power via Solar, but Power Factor Correction will also ensure your business receives clean, uniform power that minimises outages associated with poor Power Quality.

Read here about how the strategy to combine Power Factor Correction and Solar Power helped Laminex reduce its electricity bill.

Plan Ahead to Reduce the Impact of Electricity Price Hikes in 2023

Given the writing is on the wall that energy prices will increase in 2023, now is an excellent time to start looking into installing solar panels, energy-efficiency products such as Power Factor Correction, or a combination of both. While some might dismiss the media for fearmongering, both Power Factor Correction and Solar Power are proven solutions to improve energy efficiency.

Quality Energy is one of the few providers in the market that can tailor both Power Factor Correction and Solar Power solutions for energy users in the Commercial, Industrial sectors and SMEs. We have been in the energy business for over 30 years now, and our energy experts are more than happy to answer any questions you might have about how you can improve energy efficiency.

Contact us to discuss how we can help you streamline your electricity costs!

Footnote

1. Fossil fuels contributed 71% of total electricity generation in 2021 (Source: energy.gov.au)