by RichardGardiner | May 29, 2013 | Energy
When Steve Andrew first contracted Total Utilities Management Group to manage his electricity contract renewal he wanted to access cheaper power pricing. He didn’t expect an $80,000 pay-back from two electricity companies – that was an ‘unexpected bonus’ according to the Manurewa RSA manager.
Richard Gardiner of TUMG started to talk to Steve about the club’s electricity pricing around 13 years ago and Steve has used the independent utilities broker to renew his power contract and negotiate terms for the club ever since.
“TUMG analysts lay out all the options for me,” said Steve. “They recommend the best electricity supplier every time we need to renew our contract and their advice has saved the club money every year.
“For the past few years, TUMG has handled our gas contract too. We’re not a huge gas user but I reckon they cut our gas bill by 30-35% each month – that’s $200 a month we can spend elsewhere.”
About five years into the relationship, TUMG uncovered a billing error. Manurewa RSA had gone through a major building renovation and the power company put in a new meter. Unfortunately they forgot to de-commission the existing meter on the old site.
“We didn’t realise it at the time, but we were being charged twice over,” Steve continued. “When TUMG realised what was happening, they worked out the exact amount over-charged and approached the two power companies concerned with a bill.
“TUMG handled all the negotiations on our behalf and the end result was $80,000 coming back to the club. The power companies weren’t too happy about it but TUMG’s expertise got a great outcome for us – I’m not sure if I could have got the same result.”
As chairman of the Auckland Club Managers Group, Steve has been happy to recommend TUMG’s services to his fellow managers. “There aren’t really any downsides. TUMG charge standard fees which are soon more than covered by the savings the company brings. It just makes sense.”
by chris | Apr 22, 2013 | Energy
When you’re in opposition talk is cheap. Last week’s announcement by the Labour/Green combo David Shearer and Russel Norman does beg the question why the previous Labour Government didn’t take this course of action when they were in office for nine years.
Compounding this anomaly is the fact that for whatever reason, power prices rose faster during those Labour-controlled years (1999 to 2008,) than they have done over the past four years. Cynics amongst us will also remember that the well-above-budget financial performance of the leading energy companies Genesis, Mercury and Meridian during the Dr Michael Cullen era made a significant additional financial contribution to the NZ Government’s coffers.
Labour seem to be conveniently glossing over the fact that distribution charges are unaffected by this proposed change and that these charges have been responsible for a good percentage of recent price increases.
With the newly-proposed market model it is likely that the much-needed investment in infrastructure would be halted or delayed. Without market forces at play, poor prospects of gaining return on investment would discourage companies from financing infrastructure improvements. This was witnessed during successive governments from the late 1980’s to late 2000’s, as a result Transpower and some of the generators are now playing catch up – ironically this has resulted in the increased costs that the Labour/Green alliance are now proposing to combat.
From an industry point of view, the real problems with New Zealand’s electricity are: (more…)
by chris | Mar 20, 2013 | Energy
Larger Time Of Use (TOU) Vector customers with an existing reactive load problem could get caught on the hop by new electricity charges due to come on line next month. This cost increase will also impact on the electricity retailer’s medium-sized and small business customers.
The Power Factor (PF) charge, designed to penalise poor power practices, currently stands at 3c/unit of reactive power (kVArh). This charge will rise to $2.00/unit from April 1st 2013 and then by a further $6.00 to $8.00/unit by next year. These increases bring their customers into line with standard industry charges say Vector.
The maths: A small company currently paying $14 per year in PF penalties will be paying over $900 in 2013 and more than $3,600 per annum from 2014 onwards.
Why increase the Power Factor charge?
This ‘new’ charge is not price gouging. It is a necessary measure to fine-tune New Zealand Inc. for productivity and to optimise the power supply network. Many of the lines companies around New Zealand have been applying this PF penalty for years as have almost all larger electricity clients in Auckland.
Poor power practices create an artificial load on the supply system. The current charge of 3c per unit is levied on reactive power that is more than 5% out of alignment. The charge is specifically aimed at customers who draw power in ways that creates an artificial load on the supply system through poor practices. It is effectively a tax on laziness.
What can you do to minimise charges?
The simplest way to improve Power Factor is to install a Power Factor Correction unit at your site. The wrong capacitor for the job is possibly worse than none at all so should be a professional job, not a DIY.
For more information and independent advice on the best PF charge solution for your business, contact TUMG on 09 576 2107 .
by chris | Mar 20, 2013 | Energy
Power Factor can be likened to carrying a plank through a door. If the plank is lined up, it will fit through a regular door without hitting the frame, but if the plank is taken through side on, you’ll need a wider door or you’ll cause damage. Our supply network is designed as a regular door and the PF penalty is to pay for the damage caused by all those bumps.
From a more technical point of view, power factor is the measure of how effectively electrical power is being used in the conversion of current to work. The higher the PF, the more effectively electrical power is utilised. Unused power migrates back and forwards generating heat and wasting some energy. The energy wastage is not that significant in itself, but the extra capacity cost sits with Vector. The PF penalty is designed to make users aware of the unnecessary losses and costs in the supply of power.
For more information and independent advice on the best PF charge solution for your business, contact TUMG on 09 576 2107 .
by chris | Mar 20, 2013 | Energy
Power factor correction units (or PFC Units) consist of capacitors which act as reactive current generators. By providing the reactive power, they reduce the total amount of power you must draw from the network. The dynamic PFC automatically and safely compensates for changing load and helping the business avoid PF charge penalties.
The wrong capacitor for the job is possibly worse than none at all so should be a professional job, not DIY.
For more information and independent advice on the best PFC solution for your business, contact TUMG on 09 576 2107
What are Power Factor charges?
New PF charges in place for Vector customers from April 1st 2013.
by DavidSpratt | Mar 7, 2013 | ICT
This article in the latest issue of Computerworld reflects on how increasing use of smartphones and cloud services is driving mobile data growth. It brings into focus the need to identify how a company’s spending trend is more towards data and mobile data and less on landline, business and tolls calling.
TUMG carefully analyses usage and trends before entering into the process of issuing tenders and RFP’s for mobile, landline and data services.
To read the full article in Computer World, by Divina Paredes, published on 7 March 2013, please click here (link to http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/nz-mobile-data-traffic-to-increase-eight-fold-by-2017). (more…)
