Business energy by sector What your kind of business uses, and what it costs.
Electricity use and a rough yearly cost for five types of small business, from the closest government figures for each, plus what to check on your own bill before your next contract.
- Result in seconds
- No account needed
- No sales calls
Find your business type
Each guide shows what a typical business like yours uses, what pushes the bill up and what to check before your next contract.
Electricity a year, by business type
- DESNZ median
- Estimate from DESNZ data
- Closest group's median, where DESNZ has no figure
- About 12,000 kWh a year: the annual equivalent of HMRC's lower-VAT limit of 1,000 kWh a month, which is judged bill by bill
-
Independent shops
What the median shop uses and costs, what to check on the bill and how one boutique cut its bill by 46%.
7,900 kWh a year
about £3,030
-
Hairdressers
What a median-size salon or barbershop uses and costs, why hot water matters so much, and who holds the contract when you rent out chairs.
about 13,600 kWh a year
about £5,220
-
Cafes and coffee shops
Roughly what a median-size cafe uses and costs, why catering takes most of it, and whose contract it is when you share a building.
about 27,900 kWh a year
about £7,980
-
Dental practices
Roughly what a practice uses (GP and dental surgery data), why VAT on its energy is usually a cost, and who holds the contract.
about 9,800 kWh a year
about £3,760
-
Florists
What to check on a flower shop's bill: VAT bill by bill, chillers on two-rate meters, home studios and whose name the contract is in.
No florist-specific figure
about £3,030 at the shop median
About these figures. Some are DESNZ medians; the rest are estimates built from DESNZ floor-area and energy-use data, and each guide explains its own. Costs use provisional Q2 2026 government prices for business electricity and leave out VAT.
How we calculated this
Medians come from DESNZ's building energy statistics (ND-NEED). Estimates multiply a median floor area by the median electricity use per m² from DESNZ's Building Energy Efficiency Survey. Rough costs use the government's provisional Q2 2026 average prices by business size, covering every charge except VAT: 38.36p/kWh for businesses using up to 20,000 kWh a year, and 28.59p/kWh from 20,000 to 499,999 kWh. HMRC's lower VAT rate, with no Climate Change Levy, covers electricity averaging up to 1,000 kWh a month at a premises. It's judged on each bill, so a business near the line can fall either side from one bill to the next, and for businesses under it the costs here run slightly high, because the prices include Climate Change Levy. Your own bill depends on your usage, your contract and when you signed it.
Sources: DESNZ, non-domestic energy prices, table 3.4.2 (Q2 2026); DESNZ, ND-NEED 2026 (2024 data), table 14A; HMRC, VAT Notice 701/19, section 5.2; HMRC, VAT Fuel and Power Manual, VFUP2310; HMRC, Excise Notice CCL1/3, paragraph 2.5
Not on the list? Check your bill anyway.
The bill check isn't limited to the businesses listed here. If your business pays its own electricity bill, upload it: George reads it in seconds and tells you whether you're in your switching window and what to do next.
Check if I can switch- Result in seconds
- No account needed
- No sales calls
