92% of businesses have experienced at least one energy-related failure in the last 12 months.” Circle Research, The Resilience Report: Measuring the business impact of energy-related failures and creating an energy resilient future, March 2018
Let’s start with some alarming stats: Global energy consumption is expected to rise 28% by 20401 and the demand for electricity will be even greater, up 65%2. Then add in an unstable grid, intermittent renewables, rising fuel costs and strict emissions targets - and things don’t look good for the future of traditional energy supplies.
So if businesses don’t want to be caught out by the very real threat of a power loss, they need to start focusing on generating their own energy and making what they already use go further, more efficiently.
But just how many businesses are making this a priority? The answer is not enough.
45% of businesses believe that they will experience an energy-related failure in the next year.” Circle Research, The Resilience Report: Measuring the business impact of energy-related failures and creating an energy resilient future, March 2018
It’s sometimes only when a power outage happens that any vulnerable areas in your operation come to light. But by that time the damage is already done. In fact, businesses estimate that when all the costs are totaled up, an energy-related failure can be as much as 26% of their annual revenue. That’s a startling figure.
Worse still, the true cost can be much higher. A power outage can hit more than your production; there’s loss of inventory, equipment damage, even damage to customer relationships and brand reputation. All this can wreck a company’s value - not to mention the careers of those unprepared to deal with a power failure.
Nor the does the power cut need to be long for the damage to be long lasting. One in 10 businesses surveyed in the Energy Resilience Report from Centrica Business Solutions said an outage of just one hour would be catastrophic for their business.
What makes an energy-related failure so hard to protect against - and therefore so damaging - is unpredictability. But studying the various causes of those failures shows that there are ways that businesses can be better protected. What businesses need is an Energy Resilience strategy.
There’s a direct correlation between businesses that have a well-planned energy resilience strategy and positive business outcomes in the event of a failure.
And those that don’t? Take a look at this short video from Centrica Business Solutions dramatizing the day the power goes out for one ill-prepared CEO. Then download the Energy Resilience Report to see how you can avoid it happening to your business.
1US Energy Information Administration International Energy Outlook 2017 2Exxon Mobile 2017 Outlook for Energy: a view to 2040
