Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00Thank you so much for giving it your time this evening. I really appreciate it. I think
00:00:09the purpose is to go through kind of the main questions that we saw coming through the past
00:00:14couple of years since the energy scheme was started. Richard and I have put together some
00:00:18slides that we'd like to take you through. So I'm conscious there are quite a few slides.
00:00:23There was a lot to kind of pack into one presentation, but I'm going to run through it quickly. But
00:00:29kind of break it down as simply as possible. And you'll have a recording and we can send
00:00:34across the slides. You've got a copy of those as well. But hopefully you can see my screen now,
00:00:39Rhys. It's not sharing yet, but give it a second. Let me see. OK, it's something that's happening.
00:00:49OK, I can see it. Can I just get a couple of thumbs ups?
00:00:52Yeah, I think we're OK. OK.
00:01:00So just to start, we wanted to kind of explain a bit about AMBER. You might not know so much
00:01:05about us. So we're an energy consultant based in Cardiff. So we were set up in Cardiff. We're
00:01:10still in Cardiff. Our HQ is right by Central Station in the centre. And we were set up back
00:01:18in 2009. So we're actually 16 years old this year. But our CEO, Nick Proctor, founded the company.
00:01:25He's still the CEO today. And the kind of main reason why the company was set up was because
00:01:31there was a gap in the market for really providing transparency in the energy market.
00:01:37So during the kind of 2009 period, there wasn't much legislation around commissions being included
00:01:43in contracts. And there were a lot of brokers that were going out there obtaining contracts
00:01:49for businesses and not being transparent about how much their fee they were putting in. So we're
00:01:55completely transparent with any fees that we're charging. And yeah, that's kind of the main
00:02:02value that we hold here at AMBER. We do have a lot of different clients in a lot of different
00:02:09industries, but I'm mainly specialising within the hospitality and sport. I've been at AMBER for
00:02:16three years now. And I've actually been the account manager of the WRU since the very first day that I
00:02:22started. I've also got Richard on the call with me. He's your key account manager. So more of the
00:02:28day-to-day contact. I'm mainly focusing now on the commercial side. So kind of looking at new services
00:02:34and the renewal as well. You won't have seen Alex and you may not have heard of him, but he
00:02:41is the trading and risk manager. So he's got a lot of experience actually trading and he is actually
00:02:47purchasing the energy for the energy scheme behind the scenes. And then we've also got Craig who
00:02:52again is on the call, but he is the utility accounting manager and he is validating all the
00:02:59invoices again behind the scenes. And yeah, to put this together, to really bring it back to why the
00:03:08energy scheme was actually set up in the first place. But I think the key reason to explain it
00:03:14was to protect clubs from the energy crisis, which we'll all remember was a couple of years ago now
00:03:20in 2022, but energy prices were starting to go crazy. And we just really wanted to make sure
00:03:26that we had a long-term risk strategy in place to protect clubs against that. We also saw the
00:03:34impact of what a war can do to energy prices. So the Ukraine-Russia war, we saw when that happened,
00:03:41energy prices took a massive spike and reached levels of like 80 to 90 pence per kilowatt hour,
00:03:48which was unprecedented. So really high. Another key reason for setting up the scheme was to overcome
00:03:55individual club credit issues. So I think due to the size of the business and the clubs,
00:04:03there were some issues with getting offers actually from suppliers. And recently we did
00:04:08do a tender exercise where we went out to a couple of suppliers to see whether they would be open to
00:04:15kind of offering an offer. And while they did put an offer on the table, when we then went to proceed
00:04:20with it, they kind of pulled it back and said, no, we need a security deposit. So it shows that
00:04:26there are still kind of credit concerns from the supplier side because prices are still high. So
00:04:32there's more risk from their side. Another benefit of this scheme is that because there are so many
00:04:39of you, I think we have 115 clubs in the scheme, we've been able to have greater purchasing power.
00:04:45So what that means is when we're trading the volume, we're able to buy smaller chunks of the
00:04:51volume over a period of time, just because there's more volume in the basket. Another benefit is
00:04:58having a centrally managed scheme through one supplier. So your supplier, all of your suppliers
00:05:02is Total Energies and having Amber as your main point of contact from a consultancy point of view.
00:05:09Looking back at the scheme before it was set up, I think we saw some clubs had four or five
00:05:15electricity meters in some cases where almost all of them were with different suppliers and they had
00:05:21gas with different suppliers. So I think that made it difficult for some clubs to manage.
00:05:26So we've now essentially managed that, making that side of things easier.
00:05:31A key benefit and reason for why the club, the scheme was set up was because we've got a really
00:05:37experienced trading team. So I know that clubs were used to having kind of the short-term fixed
00:05:43contracts and the flexible trading, which we will talk you through in more detail, was
00:05:48kind of brand new to clubs. But we have been able to beat the market average year on year,
00:05:54so the performance is there.
00:05:59So just moving on, we have broken down kind of the total unit rate into two parts. You might
00:06:06have heard of it, but there's a commodity rate and a non-commodity rate. So I'm looking at the
00:06:12commodity rate first, which is the actual price of energy. So the actual price of electricity,
00:06:18the actual price of gas, and that's the element that we are actually trading and the element
00:06:22that we can control. So looking at a total bill for an average UK business back in 2022, when the
00:06:32energy crisis was about, you would see that the commodity element, so the actual price of
00:06:38electricity, was around 75% of the total overall unit rate. But now, since the price of electricity
00:06:47has come down and fallen, that is only 42% of the total unit rate now. Similarly for gas,
00:06:56that used to be 92% of the total unit rate. That has now fallen to 83% because of the fall in gas prices.
00:07:05So just moving on, this graph might look a little confusing, but it's really just a graph to show
00:07:12how the energy market has moved over the last couple of years. So it started, this graph starts
00:07:18in January 2021, and you can see how it moved and started increasing during the energy crisis in
00:07:242022, and then really peaked in kind of October 2022, where you can see it was really spiking.
00:07:32And since then, it's fallen. We have seen at the moment that energy prices are the highest they've
00:07:40been in the last 12 months. I'm sure you're all aware, but there's been a lot of changes in the
00:07:46world with Donald Trump coming into power. And there's been a few other kind of key factors that
00:07:53have led to a small increase, but it's nowhere near kind of increases that we saw in the energy market.
00:08:00And if I was to draw a line just to show where the price currently is compared to kind of
00:08:07the old normal, it's at the kind of start of 2022 levels, just to put that into perspective.
00:08:15I've written some key factors here that can actually control whether the energy market
00:08:20kind of goes up or down. But the main factors are if the weather is, for example, colder than normal,
00:08:28so if the weather in January this year was colder than kind of historic, then that does have an
00:08:34impact because more people are using the heating. So there's more demand from a gas side of things.
00:08:41So that then leads to an increase in pricing. Also within the UK, we actually use around 50%
00:08:49of gas to generate our electricity. So that's why even though a lot of the factors in the world
00:08:55are impacting gas prices, that then has a knock-on impact on your electricity pricing.
00:09:01And you can see with the graphs here that the electricity and the gas graphs look
00:09:06really similar kind of in pattern. So that explains that. Another key factor is with electricity,
00:09:13it's really driven by whether kind of wind turbines, if it's really windy, wind turbines are
00:09:19working. Or if there's sun, then we're being able to use kind of solar and then also nuclear.
00:09:27So if all of those three combinations are working well, then electricity pricing will
00:09:32come down as a result of that. We've seen it, but global conflict does have a really
00:09:38big impact on the energy market and also on storage levels. So those are the key factors.
00:09:47But just moving on, I have put together a slide just based on the current position for electricity.
00:09:56So looking back at the start, when we first started the energy scheme in October 2023,
00:10:04the commodity price, so remember that's just the actual cost of electricity,
00:10:08and that's just the element that our trading team are actually trading, was 12.43 pence per kilowatt hour.
00:10:15That then dropped to 9.2 pence per kilowatt hour, and that's in the current period.
00:10:21So from the 1st of October 2024 to the 30th of September 2025.
00:10:28At the moment, it's quite similar, the rate that we've obtained for the next year of the scheme.
00:10:35But at the moment, we've only purchased and traded 43% of the overall volume,
00:10:41which basically means that the the other 57% is still open and we still have opportunity to
00:10:50buy that volume. Then moving on to the following year, we've only purchased 20% of the overall
00:10:57volume at a rate of 7.9 pence per kilowatt hour. So you can see almost a 1.6 pence per kilowatt hour
00:11:05drop compared to next year's pricing. And then we haven't made any purchases yet for the October
00:11:122027 to 28 period, but I've put in the current rate based on today's market, and that's at 7.4
00:11:19currently. So we do say, as you kind of look further into the future, the prices are lower,
00:11:25which is another reason for this flexible trading strategy, is because we can access those cheaper
00:11:32rates, whereas with a fixed contract, you wouldn't be able to access those rates.
00:11:37So, sorry, can I just jump in this? I think it's quite a good one. So,
00:11:41obviously, then from an electricity perspective, that is the prices that we are currently paying
00:11:47per unit, which is the price that we can control within our, and I know we'll get on to, which is
00:11:52the price that we can control within our totality of what our energy bill is made up of. So I think
00:11:57that, you know, that is the same as what we are paying here at the stadium as well. And so we're,
00:12:05you know, having it beat in the market price, which is currently 12.43, trading at 9.26 is a
00:12:11benefit to us all. So I just wanted to come in there. Yeah, the stadium is on exactly the same
00:12:17rate as the clubs because we're all in one basket together. I won't go through this in too much
00:12:22detail because I know electricity for a lot of the clubs is kind of the main cost, but similar
00:12:27position on gas where the market rate is lower, the further out you purchase, you can see it kind
00:12:33of drops the further out years. But again, we've purchased 43% for next year, 19% for the year
00:12:40after, and we haven't made any purchases yet for the final year of the scheme.
00:12:44This graph is just an element of the actual trading strategy. So when our trading team are
00:12:54determining when they should actually go out and buy your energy, they're following part of this,
00:12:59which is a parameter. So over the course of the year, we will make sure that we have a minimum
00:13:05hedged position. So I've put the X on where we currently are, which is that we've purchased 43%
00:13:12of the volume for the next year. But you can see that is above the minimum requirement,
00:13:18which is around 30%. And then we will look to increase the purchases up to around 60%
00:13:27between April and July. And then that will increase to 80% between July and October,
00:13:34when we will have your final unit rate for the next year of the scheme.
00:13:38This slide really shows the performance of the scheme. So we've put together a graph here,
00:13:44the first one, and the green line, which is the current price that we've been able to obtain.
00:13:50And then this red line shows the movement of the energy market. And you can see we've avoided this
00:13:57period here, which is was spiking a lot higher the prices. And although we haven't been able to
00:14:03obtain the bottom, the overall average is favorable, and it beats the market in terms of
00:14:10taking the average price of every day. This second chart shows the date that we signed up to the
00:14:19scheme with the supplier, which was in September 2023. And it shows the blue line is what the
00:14:26price was for every year of the scheme. And the green dot is what we've been able to achieve in
00:14:33the trading team so far. And you can see that the green dots for October 2024 onwards are lower than
00:14:40the blue lines, which is positive, because it shows that we've been able to beat the market.
00:14:48Moving on, again, I'm not going to go through it, but it's, it's more or less the same.
00:14:53Moving on, again, I'm not going to go through it, but it's, it's more or less the same as
00:14:56the electricity, and the same patterns and kind of the same performance. So we'll share these
00:15:02slides and you can have a look at them and any questions, obviously, just reach out and let us
00:15:06know. I think this slide is probably really important for clubs to kind of understand.
00:15:13And I wanted to put as much information on here as possible. But a lot of clubs would have been
00:15:19used to the fixed purchasing, which are the standard kind of 12-month fixed or 24-month
00:15:25fixed that clubs would have been used to before the scheme was set up. So the key kind of elements
00:15:32of the different strategies are that the fixed procurement does offer budget certainty, because
00:15:40you'll know exactly how much you're paying for the whole term of the contract. It's simple in
00:15:47terms of you don't need to trade energy, you don't need to have a consultant as such. And it does
00:15:53protect you in a rising market. But looking at the drawbacks of having a fixed procurement strategy,
00:16:01you're basically taking the risk that the one day that you sign is the lowest in the market.
00:16:07But just to put that into perspective, the price today is 10% higher than the price
00:16:14and last week. So it's really taking a gamble that you know, you're not supposed to be energy
00:16:21experts. So how do you know if you're paying a good rate. So in terms of premiums, we have seen
00:16:28when doing comparisons that suppliers will charge a slight premium for offering the fixed contract.
00:16:34And that's because they're taking the risk that the energy prices, the energy prices don't go up.
00:16:40And also that the non-commodity, those third party charges aren't always known. So they're
00:16:46also taking an estimate, a gamble from their side. So they do charge a slight premium for that.
00:16:53You might have seen this, you might have been penalised in the past, but some suppliers will
00:16:58offer a volume tolerance, which is probably quite small in their terms and conditions, but
00:17:03it can be restrictive around how much energy you use. So they'll have a contracted volume
00:17:10on the fixed term contract. And if you use, for example, 20% above what you say you did,
00:17:16or 20% below what you say you did, you can actually be financially penalised for doing so
00:17:22and exposed to the market rate, whatever day that is that you've gone over the energy consumption.
00:17:29So looking at the flexible, the pros and cons, the flexible trading strategy, which is what the
00:17:34energy scheme is on, we are spreading the risk across multiple chunks of energy purchases across
00:17:42the term of the contract, which basically means we're not taking a gamble that the one day that
00:17:48you sign the contract is the lowest in the market. We're actually actively looking over a period of
00:17:53time to work out when there's dips in the market, we'll go out, we'll come back, we'll go out,
00:17:57there's dips in the market, we'll go out, we'll capitalise on those and we will create an average
00:18:02blended rate that is lower than the average market. In terms of premiums, these are reduced
00:18:10because we will purchase the commodity, that's not to do with the supplier, and then the supplier
00:18:16will set the non-commodities and they will pass those through from the distribution network
00:18:21operator, so they're not able to add a premium because it's completely transparent with us and
00:18:27will be completely transparent with you. In terms of risk, obviously poorly managed trading
00:18:34strategies could lead to poorer purchasing and higher rates, but in terms of our performance,
00:18:39we've outperformed the market for the last 14 years and we do have a really experienced in-house
00:18:44trading team, so we're not expecting clubs to be experts, we're taking that kind of away from you
00:18:50and we've got the autonomy to make those decisions. There's an element of less budget
00:18:56certainty because you don't know the full rate, but there are parameters that we put in place
00:19:03such as having an upper trigger or stop loss, you might have heard it in the trading industry,
00:19:07to make sure that you won't pay any more than that rate and clubs or the WRU can use that
00:19:14upper trigger rate as kind of a worst case scenario, so although you can't get complete
00:19:19budget certainty, you can work out a position where you're not going to be paying any more than
00:19:23that rate. So I'm now going to pass you over to Richard and he's going to talk about non-qualities
00:19:32which I know probably everyone's really interested in kind of understanding, that will cover kind of
00:19:37your standing charges and all of the third party charges, but yeah I'll pass you over to Richard,
00:19:42so thank you. Thank you Erin, well thank you all again for giving your time today to go through
00:19:50this. As Erin was doing the commodity part, so the energy you actually use, I'll be running through
00:19:56all the charges that are unrelated to the actual energy you use, so refer to the non-commodity.
00:20:05So the non-commodity costs, so these are also known as third party costs, so the compulsory
00:20:11charge is added to your energy bill, these costs help cover the expenses involved as they deliver
00:20:17in your energy, maintaining the energy infrastructure, and these costs all we're doing now is
00:20:23seeing them and they're forecasted to keep going up, so as an example as we look say ahead 2025-26
00:20:32one of the most significant changes in UK business electricity is the sharp increases, so as an
00:20:38example back in 2022-23 non-commodity costs just made up 25% of the average electricity business,
00:20:49now in 2025-26 this figure is 58% of your total cost, so it's over half of your actual cost of energy.
00:21:03One of the elements of the non-commodity cost is, and we have a lot of questions around this,
00:21:08is the standing charge, so what is the standing charge? So what it is, it's a fixed daily fee,
00:21:15so it appears on both your gas and electricity bills, and the charge remains the same every day,
00:21:20so regardless of how much energy you use. What does the standing charge cover? So they cover the costs
00:21:27for the standing charge of things like network costs, the delivery of the energy, and it just
00:21:34supports the infrastructure, so basically getting your energy from the lines, the pipes obviously
00:21:41into your business. And another, if you pop it down one there and thank you, so a big change that
00:21:50happened, I don't know if you've heard of it, it's called the TCR or the targeted charging review,
00:21:56so it was introduced in April 2022. It was an off-gem led reform aimed at making the electricity
00:22:04network charges fairer and more predictable for businesses, so it was introduced to ensure that
00:22:11the costs of maintaining the electricity grid and distribution are more evenly spread among consumers,
00:22:18so the charges that used to be in the unit rate, the transmission charges, the distribution charges,
00:22:25they have now fixed into your standing charge. So as a result, standing charges have increased
00:22:33for most of what we've seen, especially for the clubs, so it now does make a prominent part of
00:22:39your energy bills. So I just want to reiterate, this is a government change policy put in by
00:22:46off-gem, so the supplier has no control over this, and obviously ourselves, so it's just a
00:22:53third-party charge that's passed on to the consumer. So the unit rate of the commodity
00:22:59charge, this cost varies, so we know it obviously has gone up, as we say, in over 50% of your charges,
00:23:06so it's implemented in the final rate you charge, your unit rate, so these costs, they include again
00:23:13infrastructure, government policy, so basically greening the energy system, so a lot of it's like
00:23:21carbon taxes, so this obviously is projected to keep going up as well. So as Erin was pointing out
00:23:29in her slides, the only element we have of control is obviously the commodity element, so that is why
00:23:36obviously being on a fixed contract, as we see it, is a lot more risky than buying flexibly,
00:23:43and we can check, we can monitor the markets and obviously take advantage when they dip.
00:23:47And this is just a visual representation, so I just want you to, just so you can actually see
00:23:52how it's made up, so you can see that the commodity is just 42%, so what you're using is just 42% of the cost,
00:24:01everything else is other costs, as I was saying, infrastructure, and as you can see there, the carbon
00:24:06taxes on that, making up 27% of your overall cost. Again, reiterating why it's so important,
00:24:15why it's so important to have control over the commodity element of your costs.
00:24:24And again, just for another visual, this is a charge breakdown just for electricity,
00:24:29so they're all the elements that make up the non-commodity, and as you can see, just from
00:24:35the breakdown, all the arrows unfortunately are pointing up, so example back in 23-24,
00:24:42it was estimated roughly, it was about 10.9 pence per kilowatt hour, and as you can see now,
00:24:47we're in about 13.29, 25-26, and 26-27, again, increasing 13.89, is like our average estimate,
00:24:57what we think they're going to go, and as we say, this is only looking to increase.
00:25:03And then, I'll just briefly go over this, I know obviously gas is not as important, and the
00:25:07non-commodity in gas is obviously, it's not as big a hit as it is on the power side of it,
00:25:13and as you can see, just from 23-24, it was just 0.9 pence per kilowatt, so it's basically
00:25:21pretty much even keel, and it's, you're paying out 0.84 pence per kilowatt roughly,
00:25:27you're paying out 0.84 pence per kilowatt roughly, and it'll be about roughly the same,
00:25:3326-27, so the gas side of it obviously doesn't have the impact like the electricity power side.
00:25:43Before I just briefly give you a quick look, this is just a standard, obviously total
00:25:48energies invoice that you get, I just want to give you a brief overview of how it's worked,
00:25:54so you've just got the period of use, so that's your period of charge, so when the reading was
00:26:00taken for example, this one's the 1st of the 10th, 31st of the 10th, the next column then will be
00:26:07your metre reads, the last metre read, your last invoice was billed to, then obviously up to
00:26:13present, to the 31st, depends on what metre type you'll have, this one's obviously a free rate metre,
00:26:20the billed units, how many you used in that period, and the price, so the price there,
00:26:26say 23.427 pence for that one, that will be the commodity and non-commodity,
00:26:33that's your delivered price there, and then obviously in the next column your total price,
00:26:40at the bottom then, obviously total units used and consumption, so they're all worked out,
00:26:45all the consumption used, those periods and the charges with the amount,
00:26:50other charges, these will be your standing charge, if you've got a half hourly metre,
00:26:55you'll also see your KVA charge, your capacity charge will be there also,
00:27:01and then further down you've got your climate charge levy, which is applied again, carbon tax,
00:27:07and as you know your VAT, and then obviously all those charges in one make your total electricity,
00:27:14that's your total amount owing for that period of time.
00:27:20So what we always say, it's important just to have an energy invoice review checklist,
00:27:26so to put this together, just a quick look over your invoice, so you can just check,
00:27:32obviously everything looks correct before paying, so you have a look to see if there's
00:27:36any outstanding amounts from prior invoices that have been brought forward for whatever reason,
00:27:41you can go back and double check that that's the correct amount, current charges,
00:27:46review the charges, you know what you're paying your unit rate, is the period being charged
00:27:51correct, and then obviously does that total amount add up correctly to the total amount owing,
00:27:58you can also verify the metre reads, was your invoice billed to an estimate, if it was,
00:28:04go take a metre read, it might be that you've been overcharged or undercharged,
00:28:08and just check the billing cycle as well, so with the last read, taking your final read,
00:28:14does it marry up then, does it follow on from the invoice, obviously the invoice you have now,
00:28:21so you can just check if the billing periods all align, and again if applicable you can check if
00:28:27your climate change levy charge is correct, and then obviously again if applicable your VAT
00:28:32rate has been applied correctly, and this is a big one because we do have a lot of issues with
00:28:44incorrect amounts owing or credits, so what we always say is really important if you can,
00:28:52and if you can set it up to take regular metre reads, so it's really important, so you know
00:28:57you've got an accurate bill, so what the charge is, is what you owe, it avoids estimated billing,
00:29:04so it could be you don't want to have estimated bills over a long period, because it could be
00:29:09you've been undercharged, and then once a read's received, it could mean a massive catch-up bill
00:29:14for yourselves, or it could go the other way around, and it's just a way of controlling your
00:29:19costs as well, knowing what's going out is what you should be paying, and it just again prevents
00:29:24billing errors, so submitting reads on time, it just reduces the chances of any of those errors occurring,
00:29:34and this is just self-evident, so when you get your invoices, have a look at the reads,
00:29:38and be taken, you'll see an A next to the reading, so that just indicates that there's been a data
00:29:44collector, gone and read your metre, or if you've got a smart metre, E obviously indicates estimate reading,
00:29:52and C will be shown on the invoice, if obviously you've submitted a read, an important point to
00:29:59notice with Total, if you submit the read between the 24th and the end of each month,
00:30:05you will see the C on your invoice, so you'll know it's actually been used, anything out of that
00:30:11window, it will be an E, it'll be an estimated, they will use your reading, but also they will
00:30:17estimate the rest of the period, and another questions we have, quite a lot has been cropping up,
00:30:27is some clubs have been going out for quotes, so we just wanted to reiterate, when you go on to
00:30:36like a comparison site for example, they'll normally just ask for your postcode, so the
00:30:43actual quote you get is not based on what you will have to provide the supplier, once you're
00:30:50interested in the quote you have, so for example a live tender, they'll go into much more detail,
00:30:57so they'll have a look at your, they'll consider things like your credit score, the type of business
00:31:03you are, your energy usage, they will compile that before they quote, so the comparison sites, I can't
00:31:11reiterate enough, that when you put your postcode in, it's just based on that postcode, nothing else,
00:31:16so it's more like a generic quote, before you actually go out, and then you were to actually
00:31:20engage the suppliers, and they would get the information they require from you, to obviously
00:31:24give you a quote, what we did, because we were having a lot of these questions coming through,
00:31:30we had two clubs who volunteered, and let us take them to live tender, so our procurement
00:31:39department went through what is our tender process, so submitting all the details required
00:31:44for the supplier, to produce a quote at the end, what we found when we put the two clubs
00:31:52through this live tender, was we had all the suppliers we work with, refused to provide us
00:31:58with a quote, so they cited credit, so they wouldn't quote, due to the credit
00:32:06not being the required standard that they had, and also consumption, and that was for
00:32:13both clubs, so just to make you aware, if you do go to these comparison sites for example,
00:32:20that will not be what you will get, if you do take yourself through a live tender in the future,
00:32:26so just to consider those, and also coming out, and we've used Octopus Energy on this,
00:32:33that some suppliers are starting to offer no standing charge tariffs, the reason we use Octopus,
00:32:39I think they're the most well known, and they do the most advertising, we've looked into these
00:32:46tariffs, what we found, is they've got a very very strict eligibility criteria, to actually
00:32:53offer these to business, they've got a very high credit threshold, and they also might require
00:33:00security deposits, to take obviously these contracts out, there's no
00:33:06standard charge tariffs, so it's always good obviously to be armed with that information,
00:33:10that when you see that out, it's not always that they can offer that, when you go to quote those.
00:33:21Then considerations, so at the moment we've got the meter rollout, which is supplier led by Total,
00:33:29I understand we actually, for the power side of it, we're actually got a quite a high percentage,
00:33:36and apologies Erin, I didn't note that down, I know we had that through today, what the percentage was.
00:33:42Yeah, so out of 165 electricity meters, we have now got 79% on smart or automatic meter reading,
00:33:51which is great, because yeah, Richard's gone through the importance of having that,
00:33:55and that means that you don't have to go and do the manual kind of monthly meter readings,
00:34:00but a point on that actually, because even though your meter might be smart or automatic reading,
00:34:06there can be instances where the communication goes down, if you're in a poor area with
00:34:11kind of data coverage, so you might still see an estimated bill, and if you do, then please start
00:34:18taking the meter readings after the 24th, and submitting those, even if you have a smart meter,
00:34:23because otherwise you're going to be hit with the estimates, and that can kind of go under the radar,
00:34:28and that's when you can then be hit with those capture bills by the supplier,
00:34:32so I thought that was just quite important to mention.
00:34:37And also, what we've got from our net zero team, we're looking to run a free audit on
00:34:45one of the rugby clubs, so we've approached one club, so we're just waiting on feedback for them,
00:34:50so what they will do, they will go in and have a look how energy's being used, any efficiencies
00:34:57that could be implemented to reduce costs, so any recommendations, they will write a report
00:35:04obviously on what their findings are, and then we'll distribute that throughout the clubs,
00:35:09just so you've got that baseline to say, right, this is what we found, you could implement this
00:35:15for future, just to drive obviously those energy costs down further.
00:35:21So Richard, is that an open offer to all clubs on the energy scheme?
00:35:27No, so for now we were just going to roll it out on one, just to see what was found,
00:35:31we've approached the club, we're just waiting on them to come back to us, then we will,
00:35:36yeah, we'll send the net zero team in, they will do the audit, and then from that we can
00:35:42obviously push it out to the rest of the clubs. Yeah, the reason being is because the typical
00:35:47day rate for one of our net zero consultants is £850, so we're offering this for free for one of
00:35:52the clubs, hoping that the clubhouses will be quite similar across the board, and then we'll
00:35:57be able to kind of roll out recommendations to help really drive down consumption where we can
00:36:02at the clubs. Okay, brilliant, we'll feed that out to everybody once we get those
00:36:07those recommendations through. Right, thank you both for that, and we've got quite a few
00:36:16questions come in, which is great, so if it's okay with you guys, I'll host the questions,
00:36:24if there's any more questions that come in, but hopefully some of them will be answered and we'll
00:36:27be able to pick anything that we can't, we can come back to them all. So Richard, this is
00:36:33probably for you, so AskRFC from Gerry, AskRFC haven't received any invoices since October 23,
00:36:42the meet has been checked since 12 months ago, and the WIU have been chasing on a regular basis,
00:36:48I think this is one that is on our log. Yeah, so just so everybody's aware, we understand that
00:36:55the scheme has a number of queries and we continually have these, so we have a weekly meeting
00:37:02with Richard, where there is a query log list of all queries that are submitted into the WIU
00:37:09energy scheme, and that Amber then, with our support, try and answer those queries as best
00:37:16as we can, along with Total. In addition to that, we have escalated this in with our supplier Total,
00:37:23so we have a monthly call with the accounts representative from Total, so that we can
00:37:33expedite as many of these queries that come through. Now, I appreciate that some of them
00:37:39are long-standing, and the detail on the Ask, Richard, I can't remember exactly what it is,
00:37:44but I'm sure, sorry, it's come from Gerry, do you know it off the top of your head,
00:37:48otherwise we can come back to Gerry. It was basically, we were waiting on SMS, who
00:37:55basically the meter operator, they will, it was Total waiting, they were chasing information for
00:38:00the meter technical details. Now, as of this week, they've received those details,
00:38:07so that's a very good thing, because now it looks like all they're waiting for now
00:38:13is a few more, so I can provide an update on Friday, it's quite a long detailed one, but it
00:38:19looks like the billing will be resuming very soon on that, because it looks like the details have
00:38:24come in. Okay, so, Gerry, we'll get the team to feed back to you directly once we get the update,
00:38:31I think the bit there is we didn't understand at the time that Total couldn't actually access the
00:38:37meter themselves, they had to go through the supplier wasn't it, I think, to be able to get.
00:38:40It was the SMS, yeah, the meter operator, they were, so it was, yeah, it was kind of,
00:38:44we were pressuring Total, but unfortunately they were at the mercy of waiting for that
00:38:49information to come back, which was obviously frustrating for all parties. Yeah, okay, onto the
00:38:54next, so I stated that Total are the energy supplier, surely your brokers buy from the
00:39:01cheapest supplier, so I think that I can answer that, but you guys jump in, so when we entered
00:39:07into this in 2023, we signed a five-year agreement with Total to be the energy supplier for the WIU
00:39:15energy scheme. If I'm correct in saying, Total were one of the only suppliers that would actually
00:39:25supply the Principality Stadium and all the clubs that had entered into the energy scheme, because at
00:39:33the time there was too much risk, too much flux in the market, and with the type of businesses that we
00:39:39are, and the WIU and the Stadium, many suppliers weren't willing to quote, so Total were one of the
00:39:47very few that did, and we're unable to change suppliers, we purchase the commodity price at the
00:39:57at the hedged intervals that Aaron sort of displayed on the graph. Have you guys got anything
00:40:01else to add to that, or have I summarized that well enough? No, you've summarized it well, we really leverage
00:40:07the relationship that we have with Total Energies as AMBER, but also the WIU as well.
00:40:15Could I just go back to that previous question, you were talking about
00:40:21Total not connecting to their, sorry, checking the meter, they did that 12 months ago.
00:40:29There was an engineer came out and checked the meter on behalf of Total, as I understand it,
00:40:36and they checked the meter and there was nothing wrong with it, so we're still waiting 15 months
00:40:43later for an invoice from you guys, and I mean it's just not on. Yeah, it's been the top of your list
00:40:52for god knows how many months, the Welsh Republic Union have been following it up every week.
00:40:56Jerry, if you can let us answer, and then we can, you can then come back in then. Richard, do you want to
00:41:02carry on? Yeah, sure. It's, you know, I apologize, I know it's caused a lot of frustration and pain,
00:41:08and we have been escalating this, and it really has been, it's been a matter of us pushing Total
00:41:14to push SMS, so they couldn't bill until they had to confirm the meter technical details,
00:41:20so I'm just reading their notes now. Without that, I wasn't aware. What I'm saying, Richard,
00:41:26what I'm saying, Richard, is they came out and checked that meter more than 12 months ago.
00:41:31I think, I think what Richard's trying to say is that they aren't able to produce it without it
00:41:38being confirmed by the third party, because they technically can't do it until it's confirmed by
00:41:43them, so we've been escalating this with Total, which have then been escalating it on with SMS,
00:41:50who are the technical provider, to confirm the details, which allows it. We are, we are, I know
00:41:57that the ASC one has been on the weekly meeting for exactly, what you say, months,
00:42:05and we're trying to push it. It's years now, almost, but the other thing is that nobody has
00:42:11communicated with ASC. I have had to instigate all the communication into the Welsh Republic Union.
00:42:18Nothing at all has come from AMBA, nothing has come from Total, nothing has come from SMS other
00:42:23than a visit. Okay, well, I hear that. We'll take that on board. Obviously, that's feedback,
00:42:32and we have to improve on that. What I would say for, just to end a bit more positive,
00:42:37reading the updated query log we had from Total this week, it does look like we're nearly there
00:42:42to get it finalised, so the billing should be resuming, and I will personally keep you updated.
00:42:49Okay, could be looking for a discount on that. We'll do our best for you, Jerry. We'll do our
00:42:55best, yeah? All right. Yeah, we'll take that feedback on board, Jerry, because I think that's
00:42:59a big thing for us as well, is closing the loop when queries are raised, because obviously some
00:43:04queries will take longer than others to go through the system, so I think it is important that we do
00:43:10close the loop on queries and concerns that are raised, so we definitely take that on board.
00:43:16Okay. Thank you. Question in regards to the WRU scheme, where how do AMBER obtain income? So,
00:43:26my understanding is that that forms part of the stand-in charge, which is fully transparent within
00:43:31the agreement with us. Richard, Erin, is that correct? Yeah, so the WRU stadium and the WRU
00:43:42actually pay for the whole NG scheme, and all of the fee for AMBER is within the stadium
00:43:49electricity invoices, so just to clarify, the clubs are not being charged anything
00:43:55for AMBER to be their consultant. It's all being charged by, into the WRU.
00:44:01And probably the other thing to confirm as well is that all costs, so all commodity,
00:44:07non-commodity, are pass-through costs, so there's no additional charges that are put on,
00:44:13so everything that comes from the commodity and non-commodity is a pass-through cost to the clubs,
00:44:19correct? Yeah, and also to mention, AMBER don't get any kickback from using Total Energy as an
00:44:26energy supplier. I know we've had mortgages, there's like double kind of commissions,
00:44:30but there's none of that. We just get, we just charge the WRU for the scheme.
00:44:37There's a longer one here, so new dock stars have been, have seen a significant cost increase of 43%
00:44:43in the last 12 months. This is despite taking cost measures and no change to our operating hours,
00:44:49despite being, the scheme was cost effective. How can we justify remaining in the scheme without
00:44:53jeopardizing our business? We have asked for details of the scheme and for the contract
00:44:57agreement to be sent to us on numerous occasions. This has not been provided, despite the WRU saying
00:45:02they will chase it up. So, sorry, I just, sorry I missed the name then. So, Kieran, I'll come back
00:45:10to you regarding your queries around the contract agreements. I think hopefully today shows that
00:45:19the cost increases that we're seeing are from non-commodity cost increases, because as you
00:45:27would have seen that we're procuring the commodity costs at a competitive rate.
00:45:35Non-commodity costs are where we're seeing the increase and we're feeling it as well from a
00:45:40WRU stadium perspective. I'm just trying to think.
00:45:49I think we're probably showing that the scheme is, at the minute, beating the market for what
00:45:56the price is. The difference is, and Erin and Richard, it was a question that came to me through
00:46:03one of the board members as well, is that stand-in charges or non-commodity or stand-in charge rates
00:46:09can differ to every club because the location and the infrastructure to every club will be
00:46:16different. Therefore, the stand-in charges differ. Is that correct? Yeah, that's absolutely correct.
00:46:22So, yeah, that's spot on, basically, Rhys. So, that's why you won't get just a blanket
00:46:28over all the stand-in charge and look to the meter where it's located, etc. So, that's how it's priced.
00:46:34Yeah, unfortunately, Wales has been hit with the TCR, the industry news that Richard went through.
00:46:41If you imagine the UK map, then the infrastructure is kind of like a skeleton down the middle
00:46:47and everything as far away or further away from that skeleton is charged at a higher rate. So,
00:46:53you can imagine West Wales, that would receive kind of the highest stand-in charges and then
00:46:59kind of, yeah, further away from the middle. Unfortunately, it has kind of seen the biggest
00:47:04increases. But also, to put it into perspective, the stadium is being charged £800 a day on the
00:47:09stand-in charge. So, yeah, it's huge. Can I just ask then, is the variable rates,
00:47:17the variable rates per kilowatt hour, do they change between different geographical locations
00:47:23in Wales? Sorry, John, is that the commodity prices? Yeah, the rate per kilowatt hour or the
00:47:31weight, yeah, the rate per kilowatt hour. I see what you're saying about the stand-in charge
00:47:36changing, but is it the same with the price per kilowatt hour for electricity and gas?
00:47:44Yeah, so, yeah, your total unit rate, so the pence per kilowatt hour, is split into two. So,
00:47:50the commodity that we touched on earlier, that's what our trading team are trading.
00:47:53That's the same across all of the clubs, no matter where you're located. The bit that does
00:47:58differ is the non-commodity, because there's still an element of third-party charges
00:48:04and still an element in that, yeah, which does change depending on where your location is,
00:48:10unfortunately. So, that could be further away from that central spine, running up the middle
00:48:15of England? Yeah. Right, okay. Yeah, absolutely, and just to reiterate what Erin's in the presentation,
00:48:22that's why it is vitally important to take control of the only element we have control over,
00:48:28which is obviously the commodity charge. Yeah, I mean, I'm quite new, sorry, I've only been in
00:48:34the energy industry for three years, so I feel like I've been able to kind of understand it
00:48:38from a simplistic perspective, but the way I understood it was, if you can imagine you're in
00:48:44a rural area, then the electricity kind of actual infrastructure to get to your clubhouse is going
00:48:52to, yeah, be kind of more expensive than just like in a city centre where it's shared among
00:48:58more people, so you can imagine why they're then passing that charge on to the business,
00:49:04which is the club, unfortunately. And then I think another, a few queries I've come through
00:49:11in the past as well, is when it comes to multiple meters, so many clubs will have meters on their
00:49:18clubhouse and will also have meters on floodlights, for example, and unfortunately the
00:49:25new tax, or is it the TCR, Richard, that is basically coming in and it's penalising
00:49:34clubs and infrastructures like ourselves more than other places, and that's where the
00:49:42age-old infrastructure doesn't support us in going forward, so this is, so I think there's
00:49:48been a few queries in the past where if they do have two meters, can they be consolidated onto
00:49:54one, and if any clubs that are on the court are in that position, we've got some advice that we can
00:49:59provide to you as well, because that, we know that is a big stress on clubs, but again, that goes back
00:50:06to the government TCR that has been brought in, which is impacting the sports industry,
00:50:13quite considerably, something that we are continuing to discuss and lobby
00:50:17with other organisations to try and help support. Rhian, Williamson, Brough,
00:50:26Festinog, I think this is more of a plea for help, so Rhian, we'll definitely get somebody to
00:50:34communicate with you after this, in the next couple of days, if that's okay with you, and I'll
00:50:40ensure that happens. Are stand-in charges and unit costs consistent for all clubs within the
00:50:48amber energy scheme? So I think we've just sort of answered that, so the price for what we pay
00:50:55for gas and electricity is the same across the scheme, the only variation is the non-commodity
00:51:00costs, which will vary per site. Agree the stand-in charge of £5.72 per day is adding £200
00:51:08per month to our trustable, which is easy money for somebody. Yep, it is, I think the
00:51:16government are getting some money back in from all of the stand-in charges.
00:51:22Tredegar Ironside RFC has not received an invoice containing an actual reading since the scheme
00:51:27started. Every invoice has been estimated despite us sending actual meter readings via the Total
00:51:33Portal, have repeatedly asked for an engine to visit site to ascertain. Sorry, I'm trying to,
00:51:39why the meter is not automatic sending readings before Christmas, we estimated that we have been
00:51:44overcharged by at least 3,000 dealing with Amber Helpdesk since December 24th has been frustrating,
00:51:51although they're trying to be helpful, the issue seems to be with Total, who seem, need a, yes,
00:51:56a kick. So is that, then Rhys, I can pick that up and tell you. Sorry, that's Tredegar Ironside's
00:52:02RFC. So, Paul, we'll, we'll add this to the queries log on our weekly call and we'll, as we've just
00:52:10heard from, from Gerry, we'll look to come back to you and sort of communicate what we're doing here
00:52:15and ensure that you're updated. And yeah, we'll take that forward for you. Yeah, thank you, Rhys.
00:52:23No problems. Richard, start making lists, yeah? Yeah, Rhys Penturch, we haven't had an invoice
00:52:29since a year ago. Okay. We got an in, we, we got an email that says what our costs are,
00:52:37and that's payable by direct debit to the union. But we haven't had, we haven't had a breakdown.
00:52:42And obviously, we're trying to set budgets for the club. The worry is, is that perhaps we've
00:52:50been underpaying, we don't know. I'd be worried, you know, for us to remain solvent, you know. Yeah,
00:52:56of course. It's part of business, really, to be paid, you know. We'll, Richard, we'll have a look
00:53:02at that. We'll see if we can get, if, if Robert's got access to the, the Paul selection is the key
00:53:08thing. But let's, let's take that up, Robert, and we'll come back to you again on that.
00:53:16I think this is slipping up and down all the time. New Dock Stars. I think we've done that one.
00:53:21And we've been waiting four years for a smart meter to be installed.
00:53:28So, again, this has probably come up a few times, Richard, hasn't it? So, ever since COVID,
00:53:35I think that the smart meter rollout has never caught up. Is that correct? And...
00:53:40Yeah, that's, that's had an impact. Although the smart meter rollout has been supplier-led,
00:53:46so it's actually been managed by Total, using SMS, I believe they're using. So,
00:53:55because I believe we've got quite a good coverage. I think we're about 80%, I think,
00:53:59on the thing. So what I can do, we can, we can take away and have a look at that and see
00:54:04when they're actually on the schedule. Yeah. And, and just so everybody's aware,
00:54:08the ones that aren't on smart meters, we are continuing trying to push Total to push their
00:54:13suppliers to get that smart meter rollout, because then we know that it makes life a lot
00:54:17simpler. So we'll continue to do that for everybody. Blinder RFC has smart meters. Why
00:54:29do we need to submit meter readings? I think Erin may have sort of covered that. If I think it's
00:54:36just to keep a check on your bills to ensure that the smart meter is sending the correct readings
00:54:42back in. And if they're not, then to ensure that you are taking meter readings that you're able to
00:54:47submit just to ensure that they are, they are accurate. Is that all right, Erin, Richard?
00:54:55Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
00:54:57Okay. If clubs go to market and succeed in finding better pricing, then can we opt out of the WRU
00:55:04scheme? We are in a contract with the supplier, which includes the club until 2027.
00:55:16Hopefully you've seen from today that we are purchasing energy commodity prices at an energy
00:55:24price that beats the market. Obviously the variation per club comes in the non-commodity,
00:55:31which we are seeing predictions that they will, that will continue to increase
00:55:37over the next year or so. Is there anything to add on your side, Erin or Richard?
00:55:43Yeah, just like, sorry, I mean, just like I would say from the slide as well,
00:55:47obviously you are in a legally binding contract. That's industry standard once you're in it,
00:55:52but also do go look over that slide as well. Again, just look that way. If you are using
00:55:59comparison sites, please be wary that when you're putting your, your postcode in, that has not got,
00:56:05the price that you get in will not be what you're going to receive when you go into a live tender
00:56:09and start submitting all your details they'll require. So just have that in mind as well.
00:56:15Also where the scheme is a longer term risk strategy. So we're looking at prices all the
00:56:19way up to 2028. So I showed you that the prices are cheaper, the further out you buy.
00:56:24So we're starting to look at taking some risk off the table for future years
00:56:28and giving you some protection in that perspective as well.
00:56:34Clive, you've got a question on standing charges.
00:56:38Have we answered that or do you still have a question?
00:56:46I just unmuted myself now. Yeah. Yeah. From Paul Farquharson. The standing charges,
00:56:53you stated there, there's this line coming down the country, blah, blah, blah. In the beginning,
00:56:59we were paying £6.50 a day, which had a severe cashflow problem for us. We complained or Kerry,
00:57:07my colleague, we complained and we're now paying £2.54 a day. We still, sorry, £5.50 a day.
00:57:18Um, when we left SSE, we were paying £1.50 a day. Hell of a difference there. Um, it just feels
00:57:27unfair to put this on clubs and seeing the rates other clubs are paying you now on the comments,
00:57:34there isn't a standard rate across the board.
00:57:39No. Sorry, Clive, do you mean, um, the standard rate is in standing charge or unit rate?
00:57:47No, the actual standing charge per day. Yeah. Standing charge will vary, um, because it varies
00:57:52on location, metre type, et cetera. What I would say with the standing charge, there was no,
00:57:59there was no profit be made for, for like the supplier, if you will, because they have to,
00:58:04they have, they obviously have, um, charged to pay the, the TCR charge. I would say if you want
00:58:09to lobby anyone, it's not the supplier, your MP, because that's, that, that, that the government is
00:58:16what is setting these, these charges. Um, so it doesn't, as much as the suppliers and obviously
00:58:22ourselves, then we'll, we look like as we're, we're setting these up, but ultimately those
00:58:27increases are from government legislation, basically increasing the TCR, changing the way,
00:58:34um, obviously you see the non-commodities going up, reason being infrastructure, green levies, carbon
00:58:40taxes. Okay. But it, you know, from what we were paying with SSE, when we came over to this scheme,
00:58:48um, these daily charges weren't explained to us, um, bit of a shock to us, um, but it seems it's
00:58:58there to stay. Um, we're having similar issues to other people with, uh, electric meters. We've got
00:59:06two going, we've had about five engineers turn up to change the meter and find out they can't pull
00:59:12a JFU's because they're not trained to pull a JFU's. I've now got a new date in March, which I
00:59:18had today. Um, hopefully we can get that resolved, but, um, we're on estimates as well. We're not
00:59:26changing the charge though. I doubt it. With a single meter, it won't be a change to stand in
00:59:33charge with it. No. And also it is, who's coming to visit? Is it SMS? Is it, are they? Well, it's
00:59:41the, it's the contractors to the electric companies. They're based in Church Village, but, uh,
00:59:48they didn't turn up the last time. So it's not really good service from them, I have to say.
00:59:56If we can support with that, Clive, just, just let us know. But I think, um, I think I agree that
01:00:02the point that, and I, I didn't understand the standing charges and commodity and non-commodity
01:00:07when we're all, and, you know, being fully transparent, the stadiums bill has also
01:00:13significantly increased, even though we're not using any more energy on an annual consumption
01:00:19basis. So yeah, it's, it's a, it's a learning curve that we've fought. And I think Richard's
01:00:25point is exactly right, is we obviously need to look at lobbying here a little bit, uh,
01:00:32in, as a sports sector, cause it's not just going to be rugby club, it's going to be other
01:00:36sports organizations and centers that are also feeling this, this pain. And so we need to lobby
01:00:42as a, as an industry to, to either look at reducing it to support sporting organizations
01:00:50like yourselves that aren't just a rugby club, you're a, you're a hub for the community. And
01:00:53we understand the importance of that, uh, across all of Wales. And it's something that we are,
01:00:59you know, we are concerned about, which is why the, you know, the, this scheme,
01:01:05hopefully from today's call, you'll see the benefit of being on the scheme. I know that
01:01:09it looks like all energy prices have increased, but I think we will, energy prices have increased.
01:01:14And that's a matter of fact, unfortunately, what you'll see is from what we can control,
01:01:19we are beating the market and hopefully buy in for an even price across all of Welsh rugby to
01:01:23benefit and strengthen all of Welsh rugby. And we'll continue to try and fight that fight and
01:01:28take the message in with, with our stakeholder engagement and lobbying to, to see what can be
01:01:33done from the non-standing charge, because that is hurting everybody. We understand that.
01:01:39Yeah. Okay. Another quick question before you go within the next two months, we'll be fitting
01:01:45solar panels. Who do we need to speak to about the whole scenario of solar panels? That's having
01:01:54energy, what we do with the excess off peak tariffs for charging the batteries during the night,
01:02:01et cetera. Who's the best people to speak to? Great question. What I'll do is I'll take, um,
01:02:08I'll take this off offline with Richard and probably have to come back to you just separately
01:02:13to understand who's in New Zealand. I've got, yeah, I'll speak after offline of that,
01:02:20Rhys, but yeah, I've got, um, I've got some documents I can send over,
01:02:24which I might just send out to a few clubs. So. Okay. That's done. Brilliant. Thank you.
01:02:31Thank you. Um, is there an opportunity for clubs to sign up for the energy scheme
01:02:36that was described a few minutes ago? Criminality have been trying to carry out their own survey,
01:02:40but needs support. Um, I think, uh, John, we'll, we'll come back on that. I think, um,
01:02:49the energy survey will, we'll have to obviously have to see what comes back from the club, but
01:02:53if you'd like to look at, um, acquiring a, an energy, um, survey in the near future, we can
01:03:02obviously look. So basically I've been reading meters, turning lights on and off. It's driving
01:03:08me mad and I could do with a little bit of support or to see if I was doing it correctly.
01:03:12Any guidance would be appreciated. Okay. Brilliant. Okay. We'll come back to you then,
01:03:17John. Thank you. Um, there's a, also a dusky session on energy, which might be useful for some,
01:03:26um, yeah, this, this will be go, this recording will be going on to the dusky WRU as well.
01:03:31So that, um, you know, please speak to any, any of the clubs nearby that aren't on tonight that
01:03:36you may see in district meetings or, or in meetings, if they do need anywhere to go for,
01:03:41for some information. Um, understand, uh, Michael, uh, fed up of phoning in readings
01:03:50been doing so, uh, since August, uh, don't agree with, uh, I personally don't agree with these
01:03:56awful smart meters. Um, I think, I think Michael, uh, appreciate that. Hopefully the smart meters
01:04:03will be sending accurate meter, uh, meter readings. Um, unfortunately I think, um,
01:04:10it's probably good, uh, um, best practice to keep sending in, uh, the readings to ensure
01:04:17that your bills are as accurate as possible, I think is, is the general advice. Um, Erin,
01:04:23Richard, please jump in if I'm taking things into a different direction.
01:04:27I wonder if there's an easier way to send in meter readings, Richard, rather than phoning,
01:04:31that would be your preference. Yeah. On the FAQ document is out. There's a, there's an email.
01:04:36You can email directly into Total, um, and they'll pick them up. They actually prefer Total that way,
01:04:43or you can submit them through the portal, but they prefer them emailed indirectly. They get
01:04:47picked up faster. Um, or the other way is to client support. You can email into ourselves
01:04:54and we'll submit them on your behalf. But if you go on the FAQ document that's been distributed
01:04:59before, you will see there's a section on there, how to submit the readings, um, with the details.
01:05:08Um, okay. Um, if a club has two electricity meters for two facilities, is it possible to
01:05:15merge the two standardised providers saving? Um, John, we've got some, uh, advice on that,
01:05:20that we can email through to yourselves on what the best thing to do to try and look at merging,
01:05:28um, two meters into one. It's something that we, we or Amber or Total can't do for you,
01:05:35unfortunately. Let's go back to the earlier point about meters, et cetera. Um, if you've got a
01:05:43floodlighting system, you could end up paying in the middle of August or July, no floodlighting,
01:05:49yet you're paying 90 pounds a month in standard charges and not even turning the light switch on.
01:05:57I absolutely, a hundred percent agree with you. And this is exactly some of the communications
01:06:03that we need to be able to communicate as it, as, uh, an industry is, it is penalising.
01:06:09Unfortunately, exactly that type of infrastructure where you have a separate meter on the floodlights
01:06:15is a perfect example where now, nowadays will be on, on a Tuesday night, Thursday night,
01:06:20if training's on maybe on a Saturday, if it's a, if it's a dark, but it's starting to draw out a
01:06:25bit. But then like you say, as soon as we move into spring and summer, they're not switched on
01:06:30at all. And this is exactly the type of information we need to feed back into government MPs, AMs to,
01:06:38to see what support is available for sports organisations. But a hundred,
01:06:42hundred percent agree with you there, John.