Commercial Energy Audits: What a Business Gets from One

A commercial energy audit gives a business a clear, ranked list of ways to cut electricity costs, based on how the site actually uses power rather than a pitch for one product. It combines a site walk-through, an analysis of your meter's interval data and a review of your bills, then sets out each opportunity with indicative costs, savings and payback. Our Commercial Energy Audit starts from $1,490 per site, indicative and confirmed once we understand the size and complexity of the site.

What we ask for before the visit

The more data we have beforehand, the more useful the time on site becomes. We usually request:

• Twelve months of electricity bills, including the network tariff and any demand charges
• Interval data from your meter, usually in 15 or 30-minute readings, which your retailer or metering provider can supply
• Operating hours, shift patterns and seasonal changes in activity
• A list of major equipment, even a rough one
• Planned changes, such as new machinery, extra refrigeration, EV chargers or an expansion
• Recent maintenance reports for air-conditioning, refrigeration or compressors

If you are not sure how to obtain interval data, we can help you request it.

The site walk-through

On site, we follow the energy from the meter to the equipment using it. Our team typically looks at:

• Switchboards and metering: how circuits are arranged, spare capacity and whether sub-metering would help
• Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning: age, set points, schedules and whether plant runs when the building is empty
• Lighting: fitting types, controls, use of daylight and areas lit after hours
• Refrigeration and cool rooms: door seals, strip curtains, condenser locations and defrost settings
• Compressed air, pumps and motors: leaks, pressure settings and motors running unloaded
• Hot water and process heat: storage temperatures and running times
• The roof: area, orientation, structure and shading for solar

For most businesses this is a walk-through with the owner or facilities manager, with little disruption to normal work.

What the load profile reveals

Interval data turns a quarterly bill into a picture of every half-hour of the year. A few features stand out in most profiles:

• Overnight base load. Power used while the site is closed. A high base load often points to equipment left on, heating or cooling running unnecessarily, or refrigeration working too hard.
• Start-up spikes. Several large loads switching on together first thing in the morning can set a demand peak that is charged for the whole billing period.
• The peak demand interval. On demand tariffs, one short window can set a charge that applies for a month or longer.
• Weekend and holiday patterns. Useful for spotting waste and for sizing solar so it isn't exported cheaply on quiet days.
• Seasonal changes. Summer cooling and winter heating shift both the base load and the peaks, which is why twelve months of data gives a truer picture than a single quarter.
• The match with solar hours. How much of the daytime load solar could realistically cover.

Typical findings, ranked by payback

Every site is different, but certain opportunities come up regularly. We rank them by payback, risk and disruption, so low-cost fixes appear before major capital projects. Low cost generally means changes to settings or minor repairs, while high cost means new capital equipment:

Solar is often one of the larger opportunities for sites with strong daytime loads, and our commercial solar page explains how we design around demand. Where a battery is recommended, the report notes the NSW business battery incentives available from 1 September 2026 for eligible batteries from 20 kWh. NSW indicates these can be around 30-40% of battery installation cost for eligible combined solar-and-battery installations, depending on circumstances. Values are set by the certificate market, so confirm them on the official NSW page before committing.

What the report includes

1. A plain-English summary for owners and managers
2. A breakdown of your bill into energy, demand, network and fixed charges
3. Load profile charts with the key findings marked
4. The ranked opportunity list, with indicative cost, savings and payback ranges and the assumptions behind them
5. Incentives worth checking for each option
6. A suggested order of works, so quick wins can help fund larger projects

A report only saves money once its findings are acted on. To get the most from an audit, give one person ownership of the action list, make the no-cost and low-cost changes first, and then measure the result against the baseline in the report before committing to capital projects. That before-and-after comparison also strengthens the internal case for larger investments, because the early savings show up in real bills rather than estimates. To test a solar option from the report against your own figures, the commercial ROI calculator is a useful starting point.

Full audit, bill audit or data analysis?

Not every business needs an on-site audit straight away. Smaller sites, or businesses wanting a first look, can start with a desktop review. All of these services are listed in our energy market, and every price is indicative:

Next steps

If your business wants to know where its electricity money goes, request a quote and tell us about your site and what you want to achieve. Our team will recommend the right starting point, whether that is a desktop review or a full on-site audit, and confirm the price before any work begins.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a commercial energy audit take?

For a typical office, shop or small warehouse, the site visit usually takes a few hours. Larger or more complex sites with several buildings, process equipment or extensive refrigeration take longer. If power logging is needed to fill gaps in the interval data, loggers may stay on site for about a week. The report follows once the data has been analysed, and we give you a timeframe when we confirm the scope.

Will the audit disrupt our operations?

Usually very little. Most of the visit is observation and questions, and we work around your trading hours. Where temporary loggers must be connected inside a switchboard, a licensed electrician does it, and any brief shutdown is planned with you in advance, often before opening or after close. Staff mainly need to show us plant rooms, roof access and equipment areas.

Do we have to use Blue Energy Solar for the recommended upgrades?

No. The report belongs to your business, and it is written so any qualified contractor can price the recommendations. Many businesses ask us to quote the solar, battery or electrical work because we already understand the site, but you are free to compare quotes. What matters most is that the upgrades are carried out in a sensible order.