Farmers still paying too much for power

Farmers are missing out on potentially huge electricity cost savings by purchasing individually rather than through a group buying scheme, according to Framlingham Farmers, the farmer-owned purchasing and marketing organisation.

"Wholesale electricity prices have fallen considerably during the last year, but many suppliers have not passed these savings on to individual consumers. Farmers who are on individual contracts are therefore likely to be paying well over the odds for their supplies," explains Graham Aldrich, a member of Framlingham Farmers' purchasing team. "We recently saved one farm business in East Anglia 53.1 per cent on their monthly electricity bill, equivalent to more than £8,700 per year. Although that is exceptional, our calculations show that many Members are saving up to a third on their electricity costs, while the majority reduce their expenditure on electricity by 20%, based on an average annual spend of £2,400 per site."

Each year Framlingham Farmers purchases £2.2 million of electricity on behalf of its Members for more than 1,100 sites and is itself part of a much larger group which buys approximately 90 million kilo-Watt hours for 4,000 locations throughout the UK. This results in very favourable group terms which Framlingham Farmers passes on to its Members, who can transfer into the scheme very easily. Once they have done so, they do not need to worry about going out of contract because it is renewed automatically and Framlingham Farmers continually monitors the market to achieve the best possible rates.

Framlingham Farmers purchases agricultural inputs worth approximately £55 million annually on behalf of 700 Members, who farm more than 300,000 acres and keep 25,000 cows in East Anglia, the South East, North West and South West of England. The company's team of specialist buyers, based at its head office in Framlingham, Suffolk, deal with almost 1,000 suppliers, provide Members with independent 'best buy' advice and advise on timing purchases of products to achieve the best possible terms. A one-stop-shop extension to the farm office, Framlingham Farmers considerably reduces Members' administration, providing significant time savings and allowing them to get on with the business of managing their farms.