Buying your way out of trouble

UK high-street retailer Littlewoods has saved £1.5 million through an energy risk management and procurement programme. Utilyx’s Nigel Cornwall looks at how other companies can reduce energy costs through purchase programmes

Industrial and commercial energy end-users – especially smaller companies – have often regarded energy purchase as a one-off procurement exercise. Energy is treated as just another utility service, to be bought in bulk periodically. With a falling market for electricity and low prices, some companies have recently been prepared to commit to two-or three-year deals (see box below).

Yet the regular annual purchasing round, typically in April and/or October, is still the norm. Customers