Energy Cost ReductionNetwork Tariff Review
Network costs are what consumers pay to maintain the infrastructure (the poles and wires) that delivers the electricity to their location, in most cases these charges account for around 40% to 50% of total amount charged.
Whilst these charges are collected by your electricity supplier, they are simply passed on to the local network company.
Network charges (tariffs) change each year and are reviewed and approved by government regulators.
In recent years, many networks have suffered from underinvestment, this coupled with rising demand for electricity means that huge sums of money will need to be invested in the next few years to maintain network reliability. This in turn will lead to a significant increase in network charges (for example, network costs increased by between 20% and 40% in NSW on July1 2009)
Irrespective of who supplies your electricity, the network charges will be the same, this fact has led majority of consumers to ignore this area when looking at ways of reducing electricity costs.
However, what many people fail to realize is that whilst the cost associated with network tariffs cannot be negotiated, there are usually a number of different network tariffs available in any area, and you can usually switch network tariff if you find a more cost effective one exists.
In our experience around 30% of consumers can see reductions in cost simply by changing their network tariff
What does Viridor do?
1. Viridor will analyze your site specific consumption data with our proprietary network analysis software.
2. If we find we can achieve cost reductions through changing network tariff, we will let you know and request network provider to change tariff on your behalf.
3. Audit future electricity invoice to ensure network change has correctly occurred
If your network tariff does change, it will not lead to any reduction of service or reliability, simply lower on going costs for as long as the you occupy the premise
Energy Rate Negotiation
The staff at Viridor have assisted hundreds of customers to negotiate the best rates, terms and conditions available in the electricity market.
To achieve the best results in these negotiations, Viridor concentrates on the following areas:
1. Creating a competitive environment by involving all retailers in the tender process
2. Providing retailers with all the information (interval meter data, future usage projections, shut down data, etc.) they require to reduce the risk premiums attached to their offers
3. Timing, the electricity market is very volatile and Viridor can provide real time data on retailer market rates, increase our clients’ chances of picking low points in price cycle.
4. Forward contracting – reviewing potential risk/benefit of arranging future contract several months ahead of current contract end date.
The staff at Viridor are widely acknowledged as industry experts by electricity retailers and this helps to ensure that the rates we can obtain on behalf of our clients offer great value.
Energy usage reduction (kWh/MJ used)
Reducing the amount of energy you use to achieve the same or greater output is great for your bottom line and the environment.
Viridor can assist you achieve this through its skills in:
Energy Efficiency
Viridor has access to a range of technologies that can significantly reduce the energy you use, from lighting solutions that can reduce your electricity use by up to 60%, to voltage reduction equipment; we can provide solutions for a wide range of situations. We can also provide information on the state and federal government grants that may be available for each product.
Energy Reporting Service
Knowing exactly when and how you are using electricity allows you to manage your electricity significantly better and assists in identifying areas of cost reduction. Viridor can provide software that allows you to study your electricity consumption via the internet for individual or multiple sites. These reports can help you reduce costs and consumption by:
- Identifying out of hours consumption
- Identifying peak consumption periods - which in turn can help reduce capacity/demand charges
- Evaluating the impact of energy efficiency measures
- Simplifying site/group emission calculations for internal and external reports
Landlord supplied sites
Even if you have to purchase your electricity from your landlord, Viridor can often negotiate lower rates on your behalf.
Meter Service
Viridor has a bulk purchasing agreement with one of Australia's largest meter 
providers and can arrange meter provision to our customers at discounted rate.
Environmental Charges
In its tender process, Viridor always ask retailers to fix the environmental charges they apply, this not only results in surety of costs, but also results in lower unit costs in majority of cases.
Invoice Audit
Electricity and gas invoices can be extremely complex, Viridor can audit your invoices (on an ongoing or agreed frequency) to ensure all charges are correct. If overcharges are identified, we will inform supplier and ensure a refund occurs
Meter Services
All locations that spend more than $20,000 a year on electricity will usually have s “smart meter” or (“interval meter”) on site that records the electricity consumed.
The data collected by these meters is sent to retailers by a fixed line or mobile telephone connection and this is used to create your electricity invoice.
Viridor can supply software that captures this data and uses it to provide detailed reports on how you use electricity.
These reports can be provided by Viridor or can be downloaded directly via the internet, and can assist organizations’ in many ways including:
1. Identifying unexpected after hours usage
2. Identify periods of maximum consumption and opportunities for load shedding
3. Calculating site/organization carbon dioxide emissions
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Energy Efficient Lights
One of the greatest inefficient, wide spread commercial energy units is the T8 fluorescent light tube. These are widely used in offices, car parks, common building areas, and retail environments. Next generation T5 lights (which use around 35% less electricity) have not been widely adopted despite their obvious economic and environmental benefits, because they are smaller than T8 globes and cannot be installed directly into existing light fittings.
Viridor supply a range of T5 lights units that have been specifically designed to solve this problem, allowing consumers to instantly reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint.
We can even assist you with generating energy efficiency/abatement certificates that can be sold, providing an income stream.
