Business energy for manufacturing — what actually moves the bill
Manufacturing energy strategy: HH metering, capacity charges, TRIADs, DUoS Red-band avoidance, CCAs and PPAs — and which of these actually matter for your site size.
The manufacturing energy problem
Energy is typically the second or third-largest controllable cost for a UK manufacturer, and the largest with any meaningful volatility. Unlike offices or retail where the bill is largely a function of unit rate and standing charge, manufacturing bills are shaped heavily by non-commodity charges — capacity, network use, system charges — and by when in the day the plant is running.
Half-hourly is default
Any manufacturing site with peak demand above 100 kW is on HH metering, with data flowing every 30 minutes. HH pricing lets a supplier quote against your actual load shape rather than a generic profile — that's a big advantage if your shape is efficient (steady baseload, minimal evening peaks) and a disadvantage if it isn't.
Capacity charges — the hidden lever
Every HH site has an Available Capacity (kVA) figure. Set too high, and you pay for capacity you don't use every day of the year. Set too low, and excess-capacity penalties can add serious money to a single spike. A capacity review — comparing your maximum actual demand across the last 12 months to your agreed figure — is one of the fastest paybacks in industrial energy management, and it costs nothing.
DUoS Red-band avoidance
Distribution network charges (DUoS) split the day into Red, Amber and Green bands. Red-band unit charges (typically weekday evenings 16:00-19:00) can be 20-40x Green-band rates. For a manufacturer with any flexibility in shift patterns, moving even a small share of consumption out of Red into Amber/Green pays back quickly on a pass-through contract.
TRIAD — replaced by fixed TNUoS bands
The old TRIAD mechanism (avoiding the three system-peak half-hours to reduce TNUoS) has been replaced by fixed demand tariff bands. Avoidance is still worth doing — it now targets the fixed evening peak window rather than three retrospective hours — but the mechanics changed under Targeted Charging Review. Any contract dated pre-2023 promising 'TRIAD savings' needs re-scoping.
CCAs — if your sector qualifies
Climate Change Agreements offer a substantial CCL discount (currently 92% on electricity, 89% on gas) in exchange for meeting sector energy-efficiency or emissions targets. Metals, ceramics, cement, chemicals, food/drink processing, paper, glass, plastics and dozens more sectors have CCA schemes via their trade associations. If you're eligible and not enrolled, that's normally the single biggest saving on the table.
PPAs for the largest sites
Corporate PPAs — direct long-term contracts with a renewable generator — become viable for manufacturers consuming >10 GWh/year. They fix a large share of energy cost for 10-15 years, deliver additionality for Scope 2 reporting, and hedge against wholesale volatility. The downside is complexity: legal, credit, shape and volume risk all need managing. Not a fit for most; transformative for the few it fits.
Practical priorities by size
Sub-100 kW: fix on a well-structured HH-ready contract, review capacity annually. 100 kW - 1 MW: HH fixed or partially pass-through, capacity + DUoS review, CCA if eligible. >1 MW: flexible procurement, load shifting programme, CCA, and a PPA feasibility study.
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