Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) want energy suppliers to show a greater commitment to renewable energy, according to a new report.

Research commissioned by Ipswich-based Haven Power, a specialist supplier of energy to the business market, has found that while nearly three quarters (72%) of SME firms would like their supplier to be more committed to renewables, only around one in 10 (11%) would rate the approach of their current supplier as “excellent”

This figure is in line with a wider sense of dissatisfaction with energy suppliers among SMEs, with fewer than a quarter (23%) feeling that they are receiving an excellent deal overall and more than two thirds (71%) believing that it should be easier to switch to a new supplier.

Although price and service were the factors most likely to prompt an SME to consider switching supplier, the study found that the offer of “clean energy” could also encourage firms to make a change.

Based on the findings, Haven has launched a new marketing campaign – initially targeted at Suffolk – to promote its own 100% renewable electricity product as part of a package of support to help SMEs become more energy efficient.

Also included in the deal is an energy audit by the recently-launched Business Energy Efficiency (BEE) Anglia project, access to grant funding to make improvements identified by the audit and free registration under the Carbon Charter programme.

Jonathan Kini, chief executive of Haven Power, said: “That so many SMEs are dissatisfied with their existing energy supplier is perhaps unsurprising, but the sheer scale of the discontent revealed in this report remains shocking.

“SMEs want more from their supplier and a commitment to renewable energy is one of the demands they are pushing for.

“This suggests there is some fundamental change happening, and we in the energy sector need to respond to it by not only helping SMEs reduce their energy usage but also being able to supply 100% renewable energy.”

Haven Power is part of the Drax group, which has made a major move away from coal-powered electricity generation to low-carbon renewable biomass production, using compressed wood pellets made from material sustainably sourced from working forests.