Eneco Consulting partners with Cactus Energy – to help clients reduce their energy spend

The energy market’s been at a 13-year low, yet commercial electricity prices remain high. If you saw your business’s bills rise last year you are far from alone…

“It’s virtually impossible to outrun electricity price rises now,” says energy market expert and Eneco’s lead consultant, Abigail Courtin. “I negotiated hundreds of electricity contracts last year and while I managed to secure clients the best deal available, without exception, contracted prices increased.”

That’s because only 35% of the price is for the electric used – the rest covers non-commodity, non-negotiable charges, like infrastructure and offsets. “When the market’s already hit a 13-year low there’s only one-way for it and prices to go – and that’s up,” says Abigail.  That’s why Eneco have been exploring new ways to help their clients mitigate rising energy costs.

“A great broker can and will help secure you the best possible deal. They can also help you put measures in place that optimise your energy use and prevent you from overpaying.  But there’s only one sure-fire way to reduce your energy spend and that’s to reduce how much you take from the grid,” explains Abigail.

There are two ways to do that.  The first is to stop wasting energy by putting efficiency measures in place. That’s something Eneco’s been helping their clients get right for many years. These measures needn’t be complex and include things like switching to LED lights or installing motion sensors.

The second is to start generating your own energy with onsite renewables. “I think we’ve hit a sweet spot for businesses to consider renewables,” says Abigail. “We’ve got contract renewals resulting in rising prices to reflect the true cost of global energy. We’ve got a clear indication from government that it’s committed to a clean energy revolution. And we’ve got renewable tech improving, with costs falling.”

That’s why Eneco is partnering with Cactus Energy – a leading, independent renewables provider.

“I’m increasingly being asked about renewables by clients who want to mitigate their energy costs” says Abigail. “I’ve met many renewable providers, plenty of whom would love to partner us. But there’s always been something missing for me. If you are going to invest in this tech you want to know what your return on that investment is going to be. You don’t want generalisations. You want to know what tech’s best for you and what your payback will be. You want someone who can communicate those benefits to you for your unique situation. Cactus answered that for me, and I’m delighted to announce our partnership with them.”

Cactus is a data-led renewables expert in the commercial sector who specialise in providing:

• Solar PV (photovoltaics)
• Battery storage
• Electric vehicle (EV) charge points, and
• Ground/Air source heat pumps.

Those who work with Eneco know they aren’t in the business of hard sell – none of their clients are even under contract with them, yet stay year after year. Cactus, like Eneco, is a small, independent business whose values are also rooted in service, not sales.

“If our clients want to find out if renewables can help them, we’ll broker an introduction to Cactus,” explains Abigail. “The benefit of our partnership is that we already hold all the energy data Cactus needs to provide a bespoke feasibility report for any client. Once a client has their free report, they can analyse the costs versus the benefits for themselves and decide if they want to progress. If they do, Cactus will work with them to agree and install a renewables solution, but we’ll still be here, keeping their account running and reflecting any changes to their consumption profile.”

Matt Tipler is Project Manager at Cactus, overseeing all their renewable projects from inception to completion.

“Because Eneco already has all the energy data at their fingertips, there’s really not much their clients need to do to get a feasibility report from us – other than request it through their existing account handler. The report’s desk based – we simply crunch all that energy data. Most of the time we can turn around a report same day. The resulting report contains the carbon offsets and savings their bespoke renewable solution can bring them.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, heavy energy users have the most to gain from renewable solutions, but the beauty of working with Cactus is that once they understand the unique energy profile of an organisation, they can suggest a bespoke renewable system that will offset as much energy use as possible. It means regardless of size or sector renewables can offer immediate benefits.

“The cost of renewables has come down 82% in a decade.  In that same period performance and efficiency has also got better and better.  We are at the point now where this is a cost-effective way for a business to run its energy.  Solar PV is like any business investment, however, before you reach the point where you realise that investment, both yourself and the environment start benefitting from day one with the generation of your own clean, free, green energy” says Matt.

There’s much evidence to suggest renewables are indeed coming of age.  2020 was the UK’s greenest year on record for power generation – driven by renewables. The UK’s 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution has renewables at its heart. There are plenty of household names like M&S, Sainsbury, Ikea, and Screwfix who have been leading the way for some time with onsite renewable energy generation.

And it’s not just big businesses that are realising the benefits – Eneco’s own clients, like Capital Space are also leading the way.

If you’d like to get your hands on your free, bespoke feasibility report, or explore renewables a little further, all you need do is call Eneco Consulting on 01273 447012.

About Cactus Energy

• Small, independent, fully accredited, renewables provider.
• Headquartered in Manchester but operating across the UK.
• Data-led so you understand your return on investment.
• Specialising in:
  • Solar PV
  • Battery storage
  • EV charge points, and
  • Ground source, air source heat pumps.
• cactus-energy.com