Manufacturers hit by soaring energy bills

The number of firms reporting an overall rise in energy costs has almost doubled since our 2009 research to 52%. Respondents said they had offset higher utility prices by making sites more energy efficient. Over 70% of those reporting reductions in energy bills credited savings to smarter energy use. Just 3% said savings were down to a general fall in energy prices. The most popular energy saving tactics included switching off unnecessary lighting, improving plant maintenance and boosting compressor efficiency. Nearly 80% of companies said they measured and monitored energy use with most carrying out measurements in-house. Almost 70% had set an annual target for energy reduction. Over 50% were chasing cuts of 1-9% on current use with 13% targeting reductions of over 10%. The figures showed an "encouraging" move towards cutting energy waste according to Industry insiders. Steve Barker, head of energy efficiency and environmental care for Siemens Industry UK said: "This report shows an increasing awareness of the role that energy efficiency can play in helping to bring down total production costs. The challenge now is to encourage manufacturers to continue to focus on this area despite continued pressure on budgets" The survey highlighted the continual pressure operators are facing to absorb rising utility prices added Neale Ryan, national network manager at the Manufacturing Advisory Service. He said: "Escalating energy costs are one of the hot topics for all businesses in 2011, with rising energy prices presenting a particular challenge to manufacturer's bottom lines... Manufactures have the difficult decision to take on whether to pass these price rises on to their customers." The Energy Report was completed by 105 senior managers and directors at manufacturing sites.