September 2025 Energy Update

Market Update

Good levels of gas availability, along with renewable generation, have allowed commodity costs to continue to fall.

President Trump's threats to impose sanctions on Russia, China and India have failed to materialise, as has a settlement to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Global gas supplies are buoyant, allowing Europe to make significant strides to refill reserves. Europe currently has 79% of capacity and the UK 44%. It now appears that most nations will achieve their targeted reserve levels without difficulty, and fears regarding an autumn bidding war have been allayed.

Business Energy Costs

While the commodity costs reflect the continuing decline. Contract rates vary with electricity returning to 24ppkW and gas showing a notable drop to 5.5ppkW. Encouragingly, some of the rates that are included in these averages have electricity at 21ppkW, and some of the gas is at 4ppkW or less.

In future price movements, there is more optimism that gas rates may continue to fall. However, for electricity, new non-commodity charges to support the construction of new nuclear generation – the Nuclear Regulated Asset Base and the Energy-Intensive Industry Levy, which helps cover the costs of subsidising power to large electricity users, mean that these additional charges will mitigate any benefit that lower commodity costs will bring to electricity rates.

There are few positives in suppliers' treatment of customers. The same problems remain in terms of the volume of documents that suppliers demand. In addition to confirmation by a solicitor of a change of tenancy, obtaining business rates, or an exemption is a challenge, with some local authorities taking up to 14 weeks to respond. Regrettably, some suppliers won’t accept alternative documentation, leaving the new operator to foot the bill on deemed rates.

Suppliers demanding a range of hard-to-source documents, while only providing restricted access via email or webchat, means that the burden placed on small hospitality businesses continues to grow. Fortunately, Nationwide Energy’s Contracts Team have the knowledge and experience to push suppliers to faster, better outcomes for customers. In addition, customers have a dedicated account manager providing them with regular updates on their contracts.

Many hospitality venues often waste energy through faulty equipment or poor energy management. Nationwide Energy Consultants offer onsite reviews to evaluate ways to save energy. They also have hospitality-specific energy saving guides for operators to identify how they can reduce waste.

For support in making your next energy contract transition smoother, or reviewing your energy consumption, Nationwide Energy offers the support you need.
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Tel: 02476 328995
Email: info@nationwide-energy.co.uk
https://nationwide-energy.co.uk/free-guides-to-help-your-business/
Graph produced by Cornwall Insight in conjunction with Drax Energy Solutions, 04/09/2025