Multi-Site Energy Meters for Businesses

Multi-Site Energy Meters

Large businesses with properties in multiple locations have a choice when managing a portfolio of energy contracts. Each occupied business property will have at least one supply ID (an MPAN for electricity and MPRN for gas), resulting in a long list of different energy supply points.

One option is to manage the contract for electricity and gas for each supply point separately in individual agreements with business energy suppliers. In this approach, your facilities team will be managing an extensive list of contacts that will need either renegotiating or switching at the end of each fixed-term period.

The alternative approach uses a multi-site meter where multiple properties are consolidated into one business energy contract.

What is a multi-site energy meter?

Confusingly, a multi-site energy meter is a process, not a physical device that records energy use.

A multi-site energy meter is where you add multiple electricity or gas supply points into a single contract with a business electricity or business gas supplier.

What are the benefits of having a multi-site meter?

To avoid expensive out-of-contract/rollover rates, businesses must compare the energy market at the end of each fixed-term electricity and gas contract.

For a company operating a portfolio of properties, this process can take up a lot of time, with lots of electricity and gas contracts ending at different times.

The multi-site meter moves all properties onto a single, easy-to-manage contract. The main benefit of the multi-site meter is your facilities team will only need to compare business electricity prices every few years.

Using a multi-site meter means less time wasted in unproductive administration and reduced risk of paying expensive deemed energy rates.

A further benefit of multi-site energy contract management is that you can often negotiate cheaper electricity and business gas rates in one large contract, as it gives you access to high-consumption energy tariffs as well as greater negotiating power.

Which businesses would benefit from multi-site energy meters?

The minimum requirement to use a multi-site energy meter is to have either more than one business property or more than one electricity and gas supply point within a single property.

In our experience, there are two types of businesses that can benefit most from multi-site metering:

Large businesses with a portfolio of properties, such as hotel chains.

Businesses with high energy demand, such as a factory, that have multiple supply points at a single location.

The more electricity and gas supply points that an organisation manages, the bigger the potential benefits of a multi-site energy meter. See our guide to large business energy for other factors complex businesses need to consider to get the most out of their energy supply.

Smaller businesses are unlikely to benefit from multi-site energy meters. Check out our guide to energy for small businesses.

What contracts work with a multi-site meter?

Multi-site energy meter contracts are available in the market with the following tariffs:

Fixed-rate – An agreed fixed cost per unit of energy over an agreed term.
Variable – A tariff based upon the current market price of energy.
Green energy – A tariff where energy is supplied from renewable sources.

For more information on energy tariffs, check out our complete guide to business energy tariffs.

How can I switch to a multi-site energy meter?

Switching to a multi-site energy meter is achieved in the following steps:

Obtain a list of the portfolio of properties managed by your business.
Identify the MPAN and MPRN numbers of all electricity and gas meters at each property.
Use a business energy comparison tool to find the current multi-site tariffs available in the market tailored to your portfolio of properties.
Request a switch away from the current business electricity and gas supply contracts.

Our business energy experts at AquaSwitch can manage the complex process of a multi-site energy switch on your behalf. You’ll be provided with your own direct point of contact with one of our experts who will look after your switch from start to finish.

Start the business gas comparison now to get the best renewal rates available to your business.