Energy observer November 2026

Why smart energy management matters more than ever for small businesses

Keeping an eye on energy costs has never been more important. While you can't control every part of your bill, understanding how your smart meter calculates your energy consumption can help you make smarter decisions, spot opportunities to reduce waste and plan with greater confidence.

Where can I see the energy consumption? 

By using MyAccount, you can keep a closer eye on your bills, payments, and account details. But once you're logged in, the Energy Hub is where all the action is.

The Energy Hub gives you a clear view of your business energy usage, costs, and consumption trends, helping you better understand how your business uses energy and where you could save. 

Think of it as your business's energy command centre, putting the insights you need right at your fingertips.

If you have a smart meter, you can choose how often your meter shares readings with us. While monthly meter readings are available, we recommend opting in to Half-Hourly (HH) data sharing to get the most detailed insight into your business's energy usage and costs. With more frequent updates, you'll be able to track trends, spot opportunities to save energy, and make more informed decisions about your consumption.

Getting started is free and easy. Simply register using your business email address, create a password, and log in to access your energy insights.

This chart shows your electricity usage for each day of the selected month, helping you identify patterns and spot days when consumption was higher or lower than usual. The total monthly usage is displayed at the top, while each bar represents the amount of electricity consumed on a specific day.

Why smart meters matter

A common misconception is that a smart meter automatically lowers your energy bills. While your smart meter won't reduce your energy consumption on its own, it does provide something just as valuable: greater insight into how and when your business uses energy.

Smart meters come with several core features designed to track and manage energy use: 

Automated Meter Readings: Smart meters automatically send meter readings to your supplier, helping ensure your bills are based on actual usage rather than estimates. 

Universal Supplier Switching: Connects to a central, secure national network run by the Data Communications Company (DCC), meaning your meter keeps all its smart functions if you switch energy companies.

High Data Security: Built with strict encryption and security standards supervised by Ofgem so your usage data stays private.

Smart Pay-As-You-Go Support: Allows customers to view credit balances, get low-credit alerts, and enter top-up codes directly via the Energy Hub and Meter Display.

For our manual top-up guide, click here to watch a step-by-step video tutorial. 

Why spend money on upgrades when you can start saving with one that's completely free?

Smart technology isn't just for big businesses making big investments. Sometimes the smartest upgrade is also the simplest, and best of all, it's free.

A free smart meter from EDF Small Business gives the easiest way to save money and reduce waste. Think of it as giving your business a backstage pass to its energy performance. 

Super Accurate bills with Half-Hourly readings to help your business

Head to My Account and navigate to Smart Meter Data Preferences under My Electricity. 

From there, select the Half-Hourly Smart Meter Data option to enable half-hourly meter readings. 

By selecting this option, you agree that we may collect and use data from your meter(s) every 30 minutes. This half-hourly data helps us provide our products services and your energy hub more effectively and accurately.

Greater visibility of your energy use

You can download your energy usage data from the Energy Hub for your own records.

By seeing exactly what you're spending, and spot trends over time you can choose better tariffs and rely on no one to explain your bills. 

Your smart meter keeps a secure record of your energy usage and meter reading history. To see how your consumption has changed over time, simply click the calculator icon in your Energy Hub and compare your current usage with previous days, weeks, or months.

If you have solar panels, the meter will also hold your exported energy data for a shorter window, typically 3 months. It’s helpful to know that the meter only stores raw kilowatt-hour numbers, timestamps, and system status alerts. It does not store your name, address, or banking details.

Additional support for small businesses

Investing in new equipment, digital tools or energy-efficient technology can help support growth and improve resilience, but funding isn't always easy to find.

EDF Small Business has launched the Business Resilience Grant Programme in partnership with Enterprise Nation, helping eligible businesses access funding for improvements that could support future growth and productivity. Terms and conditions apply. 

Better information leads to better decisions. Start by understanding your energy use today.