by chris | May 19, 2015 | Energy
Total Utilities provides an end to end approach to utility optimisation by focusing on the key business drivers such as controlling cost and consumption. Typically we find that businesses can overlook the strong relationship that exists between purchasing prices, consumption and the efficiency and effectiveness of utilisation.
Through tailored services that can help any business assess, improve and manage on site levels of energy efficiency, with the use of innovative energy efficiency and energy management methodologies businesses will be able to generate up to a 40% reduction in total energy usage, which directly correlates to significant cost savings, increasing the sustainability of your business. (more…)
by RichardGardiner | May 19, 2015 | Energy
According to BloombergBusiness in the USA:
‘The race for renewable energy has just passed a turning point. The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas and oil combined. And there’s no going back’.
‘The shift occurred in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity, compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants that burn fossil fuels. The shift will continue to accelerate and by 2030 more than four times as much renewable capacity will be added’.
‘The price of wind and solar power continues to plummet and is now on par or cheaper than grid electricity in many areas of the world. Solar, the newest major source of energy in the mix, makes up less than 1% of the electricity market today but could be the world’s biggest source by 2050, according to the International Energy agency’.
‘The question is not if the world will transition to cleaner energy, but how long it will take’.
(more…)
by RichardGardiner | May 6, 2015 | Energy, ICT, Waste
The recent Commerce Commission ‘ruling’ on Unfair Contract Terms for utilities is great news for businesses.
Total Utilities has been negotiating utility agreements since 1999 and a recurring bugbear for us in the past 16 years has been the use of automatic contract roll-over and right of renewal/price-matching provisions by some suppliers to constrain effective competition.
Put bluntly, these clauses have been used as a ‘hospital pass’ by the suppliers in question to avoid a level competitor playing field – especially in the waste services/recyclables and natural gas markets.
As of 16 March 2015, the applicable new agreements must not include such clauses (i.e. Unfair Contract Terms).
It must be emphasised however that these contract clauses are still allowed if existing supply/service agreements are renewed for a further term.
The implications of this are very clear, businesses should negotiate brand new agreements covering the utilities etc in question – don’t just roll your existing agreement on the basis of unchanged contract terms and conditions.
Reference should be made to the Commerce Commission website for full details of their ruling. A PDF of the ruling can be downloaded here.
by chris | Jan 15, 2015 | Energy
Geothermal generation supplied nearly 20% of New Zealand’s total electricity last week – a substantial rise from the average 7% contribution from this energy source. The spike in demand was due to lower than average output from thermal and hydro generation, caused by power station outages in December and low inflow levels in the country’s hydro lakes.
Thermal-based generation outages kept pricing elevated throughout December and Contact’s Otahuhu B plant in Auckland remains out due to on-going maintenance. National water storage in hydro lakes has continued to fall around 7% below average for this time of year. Latest NIWA forecasts predict less than a 50% chance of rainfall hitting normal levels in the South Island between January and March. This could be compounded by above-normal temperatures in the west of the South Island over the same period with a 35-40% chance of average temperatures in all other Southern regions.
The country’s biggest hydro generator, Meridian, is reported as being “comfortable with the current situation.” Meridian’s operating report for December shows its inflows last month were 81 per cent of average. (more…)
by Jonathan Gardiner | Dec 2, 2014 | Waste
Earlier this year Tamaki College’s executive officer, Neil McEnteer had no hesitation in handing over the school’s waste contract to Total Utilities for review. Since his first dealings with the utilities experts in 2012, Neil had seen the college benefit from significant savings across electricity, gas and telecoms bills. He remembers being quietly confident of another good result.
“In a sector where budgets are very tight, it is important keep costs to a minimum,” said Neil. “Every dollar we save is a dollar more we can spend on teaching and learning.
“Unless you are proactive, completely up to date with market information and have read all the fine print, it’s difficult to be sure that you’ve secured the best utilities contracts. Working with Total Utilities has shown us just what can be achieved when you bring in the experts.”
In 2012 Total Utilities cut the college spend on electricity by 12% and then by a further 13% through an early renegotiation in 2014. Acting on their advice, Neil moved the college’s gas supply contract to a new retailer in 2012, reducing annual costs by 13%. To complete the trifecta, Total Utilities renegotiated the school’s telecoms contract at the beginning of 2014, resulting in an overall saving of 29%.
“While we were discussing one of the other contract renewals, I asked for advice on our waste spend. Without realising it, we had allowed our contract to automatically roll over for two consecutive three-year terms. Jonathan Gardiner from Total Utilities took one look at the figures and said we could do way better on the price.”
Waste contracts almost always require 90 days’ notice prior to the renewal date if the customer wants to review pricing. If this opportunity passes, the pricing and contract terms automatically roll over for another three years. (more…)
by Jonathan Gardiner | Dec 2, 2014 | Waste
Jonathan Gardiner shares some ways to save money on waste management at your organisation:
How full are your bins?
If bins are regularly being picked up half or two thirds full consider increasing the size of your bin to reduce the number of pick-ups and cut transport and tipping charges.
Are you paying for pick-ups you don’t need?
Going into the long summer holidays, make sure your pick-up regime reflects the drop in the amount of waste generated over the next two months. If your scheduled pick-ups remain unchanged, you’ll most likely be paying for empty bins to be emptied!
What’s in the bin?
Carry out an audit of your waste disposal process on site. Walk through what actually happens on the ground rather than looking at the process you have in place to deal with waste (practice rather than theory). Ask your waste company to supply a breakdown of the bin contents from a typical week and see if it all stacks up. This will give you some insight into whether you can reduce the amount of waste that ends up in the bin.
Keep an eye on price adjustment clauses
Check your contract fine print to see whether your waste company can pass on increased charges at short notice. If they can, make a note to renegotiate the small print at next time your contract comes up for renewal.
Review contract pricing
Make a note of your contract expiry date and count back 90 days. Make sure that you give written notice of your intention to review pricing well in advance of the 90 day cut off if you want to avoid your current pricing being locked in for another three years.
If your pricing hasn’t changed for one or more contract terms, you will almost certainly be able to make savings on waste. Have a look at how Tamaki College cut their waste bill by 44% this year.
If you’d like to see how much you can save, talk to Jonathan Gardiner at Total Utilities. Find out more about the waste services that Jonathan and the team can assist your organisation with.
