26/05/2021
Flex Assure Publishes Energy Users’ Guide To Energy Flexibility
Flex Assure has published new guidelines for business energy users to support businesses in their interactions with flexibility services providers.
The Flex Assure Guidelines for Business Energy Users are intended as a starting point for businesses interested in exploring opportunities to get involved with energy flexibility. They provide a brief introduction to energy flexibility, the role of flexibility services providers (sometimes referred to as aggregators), and tips on key things to consider when engaging with and requesting offers from flexibility services providers.
Development of guidelines for business energy users was motivated by a recognition of the complexity and challenges many business energy users face, when taking the first steps on their energy flexibility journey. The energy flexibility sector is a rapidly developing area and many business energy users find it difficult to know what opportunities are available and relevant to their business, and where to begin to take advantage of these opportunities. Moreover, it can sometimes be difficult to assess offers and bids from different flexibility service providers, and to assess which is the best fit for your organisation or site.
In order to address these challenges, these guidelines present a set of questions and things to consider, when engaging with one or more flexibility service provider(s), together with an overview of the types of information and data a business energy user may wish to share with (a) flexibility service provider(s), in order to get the best and most accurate offers.
Emma Piercy, Head of Climate Change & Energy Policy at the Food and Drink Federation, welcomes the publication of guidelines for business energy users:
“These guidelines provide a great user-friendly guide for industry sites to start thinking about how they could benefit from Flexibility services and the steps they can take to explore the opportunities.”
David Gibbin, Energy Flexibility Manager at Severn Trent Water said:
“These new FlexAssure customer guidelines help simplify the world of energy flexibility and allow customers to engage in a subject that can otherwise be quite overwhelming.”
Caroline Sejer Damgaard, Flex Assure Scheme Administrator commented:
“Flex Assure exists to benefit energy flexibility customers (and prospective customers), so it is great to be able to introduce these Guidelines for Business Energy Users to sit alongside our suite of resources directed at flexibility services providers. I hope that these Guidelines will provide a useful entrypoint for business energy users to learn more about energy flexibility, consider the opportunities available to them, and begin to think about how they can make use of the Flex Assure Code of Conduct in their dealings with flexibility services providers.”
Flex Assure is a voluntary compliance scheme for flexibility services providers, based on the Flex Assure Code of Conduct (the Code). The Code sets minimum standards for flexibility services providers in their interactions with business energy users. Flexibility services providers signed up to the Flex Assure Scheme are committed to abide by the rules set out in the Code, providing assurance to business energy users of the quality of service they can expect from Scheme Members. The Flex Assure Code of Conduct is an opensource resource, freely available for anyone to use and refer to.
For more information, please contact info@flexassure.org.
Visit Flex Assure on stand 1618.