Third party intermediaries (TPIs) are failing to engage their clients on energy efficiency services, initial survey data collected by The Energyst has revealed.
Of 97 organisations polled to date on energy efficiency actions, 40 respondents buy their energy through a TPI.
The majority (75%) of firms that use a TPI spend at least £1m per year on energy and 60% have a dedicated energy manager. Some 60% completed an Esos audit while 12.5% are ISO50001 compliant.
However, of those that contract via a TPI, only 22% said their intermediary had actively engaged them on energy efficiency services.
Efforts by energy suppliers are almost as poor. Of 57 organisations polled that buy direct from energy suppliers, only 28% said suppliers had engaged them on energy efficiency services.
Energy suppliers and TPIs make much of their profits from selling energy. While it could be argued that turkeys are unlikely to vote for Christmas, both suppliers and some of the larger TPIs are now actively pursuing revenue growth via energy services. The findings, while from a small sample, suggest room for improvement from both sectors in terms of customer engagement.
The survey explores drivers and barriers to improving energy efficiency within both large and small organisations and will form part of a forthcoming report, sponsored by Eon.
So far, the data suggests that around two thirds of respondents mandated to take an energy audit under the Esos energy efficiency scheme have taken some form of action. However, despite Esos requiring directors to sign off the audit, 60% of respondents said energy had not moved up the board agenda as a result.
Meanwhile, for respondents not captured by Esos legislation, finance (cited by 58% of smaller firms) remains the biggest perceived barrier to energy efficiency investment.
Please help us to create a more robust snapshot of UK energy efficiency attitudes by taking the short survey here. In return we will send you a free copy of the report.
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