Last updated October 2026.

Why energy gets managed badly

Energy is one of the few material costs most businesses buy without managing. It is bought every few years in a hurry, paid monthly without checking, and reviewed only when a bill is shocking. The reasons are structural: it belongs to nobody, the bills are hard to read, and the market moves in ways that make a bad outcome easy to blame on the market.

Managing it is not complicated. It is a data problem, a calendar problem and an ownership problem, and most of the value comes from solving the first one.

Start with the data

Know what you have. A register of every site, meter, contract and rate. Without it nothing else is possible, and most businesses do not have one.
Get consumption, not just cost. Half-hourly electricity data where meters allow; actual gas reads monthly; smart or AMR meters where they are missing. Cost without consumption cannot tell you whether a change in the bill is price or volume.
Validate the bills. Every invoice against contract and data. Errors found here fund the rest of the programme.
Set a baseline and a budget. Last year’s consumption by site and month, priced at contract rates, is the budget. Variance against it is the management signal.

Talk it through with us

Send us a recent bill or a quick description of your sites and we will tell you plainly what applies to you and what it would involve. No obligation.

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Running it

Monitoring and targeting is the discipline of looking at consumption regularly, comparing it to what it should be given the weather, the output and the hours, and chasing the gaps. A warehouse whose night-time load has doubled has a fault or a habit; a shop whose gas has not moved since the boiler was replaced has a controls problem. Found monthly, these are small; found at renewal, they have cost a year.

Governance is what keeps it going: a named owner, a monthly report that someone reads, a renewal calendar with termination dates in it, and a yearly review of whether the contract structure still suits the business. Organisations that want a framework use ISO 50001, which is also an ESOS compliance route; most do not need the certificate to get the benefit.

Saffron Walden Town Council

14 supplies · one contract

Saffron Walden Town Council

Fountains, allotments, standpipes and council buildings spread across several retailers, some billed in advance, consolidated onto a single contract with one end date. Read the case study.

Frequently asked questions

What is energy management?

The ongoing control of energy cost and consumption: knowing what you have, measuring what you use, checking what you pay, budgeting, monitoring variances and acting on them.

What is monitoring and targeting?

Regular comparison of actual consumption against expected consumption given conditions, with investigation of the gaps. It is the core routine of energy management.

Do we need ISO 50001?

Only if you want the certificate for tendering or ESOS. The disciplines it describes are worth adopting regardless.

What data do we need to manage energy properly?

A site and meter register, consumption data by meter and month, contract rates and dates, and validated invoices.

How much time does energy management take?

For a mid-sized estate, a few days a month once the data is flowing. Setting the data up is the larger initial effort.

Can Clearsight Energy run energy management for us?

Yes, as a consultancy service for businesses whose spend or complexity justifies it.

Need help? Get in touch

Call us on 020 8036 5715, or email us, and we will take it from there.

Get in touch

Clearsight Energy
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