On June 1, the new time slots in electricity tariffs imposed by the Government came into force, which directly affect homes and businesses. This change means that in recent months, many of us have had to change our usual habits.

Now, what will happen to companies that are more active during the working day when electricity bills are they more expensive? How will this change affect the company's annual accounts?

The purpose of this electricity rate change is nothing more than to promote electricity consumption and improve energy efficiency in periods of low demand, but it is inevitable for companies that continue to work in periods of high energy demand. When demand is higher, there is the possibility of hiring two types of power.

Companies with a power of less than 15 kW (SMEs)

Companies with a power of less than 15 kW, like most small and medium-sized companies, will have a rate, 2.0 TD, and the time slots are divided into three periods: peak (most expensive), flat (medium) and valley (the cheapest).

But in addition, is it possible for a small business to save money with the new electricity bill? Yes. One of the new features of these new rates is that it is possible that companies hire two different powers. Therefore, those companies that are most active on weekends or at dawn may choose to contract two powers, thus reducing their bills, since they will pay most of the time when electricity is the cheapest.

What about companies that are not active during the most economical hours? In this case, the only solution to reduce electricity bills is taking advantage of average prices and avoid the most expensive hours, which are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. If their activities don't allow them to adapt and consume a lot during peak hours, they are likely to notice an increase in their monthly bills.

Companies with a power greater than 15 kW and high energy demand

For companies with high energy requirements and powers greater than 15kW, there are different systems.

For these companies, there are six different periods (P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and P6), from the most expensive to the cheapest. Having up to six types of power, each different in the six periods, the application will vary depending on the season.

In addition, 5 types of days are classified according to the four seasons plus a fifth type of national holidays and weekends, in the latter case P6 always applies.

 
• High: January, February, July and December
 
• Medium-high: March - November.
 
• Average: June, August, September.
 
• Lower: April, May, October.
 
• Weekends and holidays.
  

Therefore, it is likely that companies experience a decrease in invoices during the off-season (April, May and October) and an increase in the high season (January, February, July and December).

After this analysis, all companies have in common that electricity bills will be cheaper on weekends and holidays, and the cheapest time of the week is always between midnight and 08:00am.  

Therefore, taking into account all these assessments, it is important that each company carefully studies the situation and needs of its activities, and on this basis, try to find the cheapest price for your company, and adjust your activities depending on these time periods.

How to save electricity in your company?

 With the new electricity rates, you can save electricity in your company as follows:

 
• Adapting the contracted power to what you really need.
 
• Taking into account the time zones where electricity is more economical
 
• Switching to the free market to avoid changes in electricity prices. In the free market, there are different types of tariffs and each of them can be adapted to the needs of each consumer.