The Unique Energy Challenges of Multi-Site Operations
Managing energy across multiple sites is like trying to drive several cars at once.
Each location has its own unique energy profile, usage patterns, and challenges. Without a coordinated approach, you’re likely paying far more than necessary for your energy.
For multi-site businesses, the complexity of managing multiple energy contracts, suppliers, and billing cycles often leads to significant inefficiencies and overspending.
Today, I’ll share proven strategies that are helping our multi-site clients save thousands on their energy bills through coordinated energy management.
The Hidden Costs of Decentralized Energy Management
When each site manages its own energy procurement and usage, several problems typically arise:
Inconsistent Contract Terms: Different sites may have vastly different rates, terms, and renewal dates.
Reduced Buying Power: Individual sites can’t leverage the total volume of the business for better rates.
Administrative Burden: Managing multiple suppliers, contracts, and billing cycles creates unnecessary overhead.
Missed Opportunities: Without centralized expertise, energy-saving opportunities often go unnoticed.
Benchmarking Challenges: It’s difficult to compare performance across sites without standardized reporting.
One retail chain we worked with discovered they were paying 22% more for energy at some locations than others, despite similar usage patterns and the same supplier.
Centralizing Your Energy Procurement Strategy
The first step to optimizing multi-site energy usage is centralizing your procurement strategy.
By consolidating your energy purchasing across all sites, you can:
Leverage Total Volume: Negotiate better rates based on your company’s total energy consumption.
Standardize Contract Terms: Ensure all sites benefit from the same favorable terms and conditions.
Align Renewal Dates: Coordinate contract renewals to maximize negotiating power.
Reduce Administrative Overhead: Deal with fewer suppliers and contracts.
A manufacturing client with three sites across Yorkshire reduced their overall energy costs by 14% simply by consolidating their procurement strategy, saving over £65,000 annually.
Creating a Multi-Site Energy Baseline
You can’t improve what you don’t measure.
Establishing a baseline for energy consumption across all your sites is essential for identifying opportunities and tracking progress. This baseline should include:
Consumption Data: Historical energy usage for each site, ideally broken down by time of day and day of week.
Cost Data: What you’re paying for energy at each location, including all fees and charges.
Operational Data: Hours of operation, occupancy, production levels, and other factors that influence energy use.
Building Characteristics: Size, age, construction type, and HVAC systems for each location.
With this baseline in place, you can identify outliers—sites that use significantly more energy than comparable locations—and prioritize your improvement efforts.
Implementing Site-Specific Energy Management Plans
While your procurement strategy should be centralized, your energy management approach needs to be tailored to each site’s specific characteristics and challenges.
Effective site-specific energy management includes:
Energy Audits: Conducting detailed assessments of each location to identify efficiency opportunities.
Prioritized Improvements: Focusing first on low-cost, high-return measures at each site.
Local Engagement: Involving on-site staff in energy-saving initiatives.
Regular Monitoring: Tracking performance against baseline and targets.
A hotel chain we work with implemented site-specific energy management plans across their 12 UK locations, resulting in average energy savings of 17% and a return on investment of over 300% in the first year.
Leveraging Technology for Multi-Site Energy Management
Technology can significantly simplify the process of managing energy across multiple locations.
Key technologies to consider include:
Energy Management Systems (EMS): Centralized platforms that collect, analyze, and report on energy data from all sites.
Smart Meters and Submeters: Devices that provide real-time energy consumption data at the site or equipment level.
Building Automation Systems (BAS): Systems that control HVAC, lighting, and other building systems based on occupancy, weather, and other factors.
Remote Monitoring and Control: Technologies that allow central management of energy-consuming systems across all sites.
One retail client reduced their energy consumption by 23% across 15 locations by implementing a centralized energy management system with remote monitoring and control capabilities.
Standardizing Best Practices Across All Locations
Once you’ve identified energy-saving measures that work at one site, standardize and implement them across all applicable locations.
Common best practices to standardize include:
Temperature Setpoints: Consistent heating and cooling setpoints based on occupancy and activity.
Lighting Controls: Standardized lighting schedules and occupancy-based controls.
Equipment Maintenance: Regular preventive maintenance schedules for all energy-consuming equipment.
Startup and Shutdown Procedures: Optimized sequences for powering up and down facilities.
A restaurant chain we worked with standardized their kitchen equipment startup procedures across all locations, reducing their overall energy consumption by 8% with zero capital investment.
Case: Multi-Site Retail Operation
A retail client with 22 locations across the UK struggling with inconsistent energy costs and performance across their portfolio. Each store managed its own energy procurement and usage, resulting in widely varying costs and efficiency levels.
Our approach would be:
- Centralizing energy procurement across all locations
- Establishing a baseline and benchmarking performance
- Implementing site-specific energy management plans
- Standardizing best practices across the portfolio
- Installing remote monitoring and control systems
The results:
- 19% reduction in overall energy costs (£142,000 annual savings)
- 27% reduction in energy consumption at the poorest-performing sites
- Standardized contract terms and renewal dates
- Simplified administration and reporting
- Improved environmental performance
Taking the Next Step
Managing energy across multiple sites requires a strategic, coordinated approach that addresses both procurement and consumption.
The most successful multi-site businesses treat energy as a manageable resource rather than a fixed cost, implementing systems and practices that optimize usage across their entire portfolio.
At Link Utility Consultants, we specialize in helping multi-site businesses reduce their energy costs through strategic procurement and coordinated energy management.
Our transparent approach, capped commissions, and guarantee to beat any direct supplier renewal quote ensure you’ll always get the best possible rates without sacrificing control.
Ready to discuss how we can help your multi-site business reduce energy costs? Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.
