How to build an energy baseline your business can actually use

Choose a period that represents operations

Use a consistent period with reliable data and record anything unusual: shutdowns, expansions, extreme weather, equipment faults or changed schedules. Graph daily, weekly and seasonal patterns before reducing performance to one annual total. Australian Government guidance specifically recommends linking energy costs to business output and examining patterns over time.

Select activity measures that people can continue collecting, such as production units, occupied hours or floor area. A baseline should be simple enough to maintain but detailed enough to explain material changes. Keep the raw data and a versioned note of every adjustment.

Use the baseline to ask better questions

Compare similar operating periods and investigate unexpected overnight, weekend or seasonal use. Plotting energy against production or another relevant variable can reveal whether consumption moves as expected. Benchmarks can add context, but they do not replace analysis of your exact equipment and operations.

After an improvement, apply the same boundaries and document changes that affect comparison. The goal is not to claim every reduction as a project saving; it is to produce credible evidence for the next decision and share progress clearly across the business.

• Use consistent dates, meters and site boundaries.
• Record operational changes and unusual events.
• Compare energy with a relevant activity measure.
• Inspect after-hours and seasonal patterns.
• Keep calculations and adjustments reproducible.