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1.5 million small businesses are at risk of overpaying as much as 100% on gas and electricity.

The relentless stream of bad economic news (and fear of even worse to come) is of grave concern to the UK’s business owners. The concern is well-placed, because even the best-run operations cannot be certain that the credit crunch won't find a way to damage them in the coming months.

With so much uncertainty, now is the time to deal with one cost element of your business that you can control – the cost of gas and electricity.

Business Energy is usually sold on fixed term negotiable contracts, which can be 1, 2 or 3 years long. These rates are initially competitive - after all, suppliers will want to make sure that you come on board with them - but your loyalty won't be rewarded when the contract expires. Instead, suppliers will hope that you won’t notice the bad news when they send you the automatic renewal notice.

The relentless stream of bad economic news (and fear of even worse to come) is of grave concern to the UK’s business owners. The concern is well-placed, because even the best-run operations cannot be certain that the credit crunch won’t find a way to damage them in the coming months.

With so much uncertainty, now is the time to deal with one cost element of your business that you can control - the cost of gas and electricity. Business Energy is usually sold on fixed term negotiable contracts, which can be 1, 2 or 3 years long. These rates are initially competitive - after all, suppliers will want to make sure that you come on board with them - but your loyalty won’t be rewarded when the contract expires. Instead, suppliers will hope that you won’t notice the bad news when they send you the automatic renewal notice.

Auto renewing with your current supplier could cost you as much as double the cheapest alternative rate. And if you miss out and fail to switch away, your business will be stuck on those high rates for another 1, 2 or even 3 years!

A look at the marketplace confirms that businesses who auto renew, will do so on electricity rates of between 16-20 pence per kilowatt hour. The best rates for small businesses, which are available through our service, are currently close to 10 pence - up to 50% less!

So here are our top tips to make sure that you don’t start overpaying for your business energy:

1. Find out when your contract with your current energy supplier is up for renewal.
2. Use our convenient broker callback
[http://products.xelector.com/aolportal/UtilityResources/bas.html] service to get a competitive quote for your business.
3. Stick with an energy broker in future. This broker service will ensure that your business will never autorenew with your current supplier, so you know you will always get the best deal.

Not sure whether your supply is classed as a business?

Electricity users should refer to their latest bill to determine whether the premises are classed as a business. If the meter point reference number (MPRN) as shown on the bill begins with the numbers 03 to 08, the property is supplied as a business on business rates. Please refer to the sample MPAN drawing below for an example of what to look for.

Gas Users: If your bill shows VAT at 17.5%, the property is classed as a business supply point.

So act now to keep your energy costs as low as possible. You won’t know when you'll need those savings.