If you’ve ever used a business energy broker before, there’s a good chance you didn’t know what they were earning from you. That’s not an accident. It’s standard practice in most of the industry.
This isn’t a dig at individual brokers. It’s just how the market has worked for a long time. And it’s exactly why we built Edge differently.
What does a traditional energy broker actually do?
Most brokers work the same way. They contact you around renewal time, ask for a Letter of Authority, go away and source some quotes, then come back with a recommendation. You take it or leave it.
That process isn’t broken. But what happens in the middle of it often is.
The part most businesses never see: the broker chooses which suppliers to approach, which quotes to show you, and which ones to quietly leave out. Their fee is buried inside the per-unit rate. You never see a line item for “broker commission.” You just see a total pence-per-kWh figure and sign.
Why commission transparency matters
Here’s the practical issue. If your broker earns 3p/kWh and you’re using 500,000 kWh a year, they’re earning £15,000 from your contract. You have no idea. The “best” quote they show you might not be the cheapest on the market. It might be the one that pays them the most.
That’s not hypothetical. It’s the subject of ongoing FCA scrutiny and the reason the energy broker sector is moving toward mandatory disclosure.
At Edge, our fee is printed on every quote. Not in the terms. On the quote itself. You see the supplier’s unit rate, the standing charge, the contract length, and our commission — in separate columns. If the numbers don’t add up for you, you don’t sign. If you don’t sign, you pay nothing.
How do traditional brokers work vs Edge?
Does the broker show their commission?
Most traditional brokers don’t. Commission is typically embedded in the unit rate with no breakdown given. You can ask, but you’re unlikely to get a clear answer.
Edge shows the commission on every quote, separated from the supplier’s rate, before you commit to anything.
How do you receive your quotes?
Most brokers send quotes over email or read them out on the phone. You’re comparing numbers across a chain of attachments, call notes, or spreadsheet rows they’ve built for you.
Edge puts every quote in a deal room — a private web page with all quotes side by side. Supplier rate. Standing charge. Contract length. Our fee. All visible at once, formatted so you can actually compare them.
Does the broker cover the whole market?
Most brokers work from a panel — a set of suppliers they have agreements with. If the best deal for your business is with a supplier outside that panel, you won’t see it.
Edge searches the whole market. Every quote we can access goes into your deal room. We don’t filter based on who pays us more.
What happens between renewals?
Most brokers go quiet after you sign. You might not hear from them again until 3 months before your next renewal — if they remember to call.
Edge tracks your renewal date automatically. Your deal room stays live, your contract end date is logged, and when it’s time to compare again we reach out before you roll onto out-of-contract rates.
What’s the cost to you?
The same either way: nothing upfront. Broker fees in this industry are paid by the supplier through the unit rate.
The difference is whether you can see what that fee is. With most brokers, you can’t. With Edge, you always can.
Who is this right for?
Honestly, any UK business that pays an energy bill. We work with single-meter offices, multi-site retail chains, restaurants, hotels, and everything in between. There’s no minimum size and no per-site fees.
The businesses that get the most from Edge tend to be ones that have used a broker before and got stung — or ones that have been going direct to their supplier and are wondering why their rates feel high.
A question worth asking any broker
Before you sign an LOA with any broker, ask them this: “Will you show me your commission on every quote, as a separate line item, before I commit?”
If the answer is yes, great. Hold them to it.
If the answer is no, or they get cagey about it, that tells you something.
Ready to compare?
It takes two minutes to get started. Sign your LOA, and we’ll have quotes in your deal room within 48 hours — every rate, every supplier we can access, with our fee visible on every line.
Want to talk about your energy contract?
Get in touch