LONDON, United Kingdom — [Editor's note: This article originally appeared on BusinessGreen.com, and is reprinted with permission.]

Energy giant Npower has kicked off the new year by announcing it is to offer free real-time energy meters to small and medium-sized businesses that sign up to its E3 business tariff.

Under the initiative, which Npower said was designed to help small businesses cut their energy bills without making large-scale investments, all new E3 customers will receive an easy-to-install smart meter that allows them to track how much energy they use and how much it is costing them at any given time.

Real-time energy meters are a common feature at large commercial properties, but according to Npower many small businesses remain unaware of how much energy they are using -- a fact that contributes to an estimated £3bn of energy being wasted by smaller firms each year.

"Even though small measures such as switching off equipment can make a big difference to energy costs, there's no obvious impact of flicking a light switch," observed Allan Robinson, head of products for Npower energy services. "You can't see your energy use drop instantly and bills won't always register a change immediately so there is often little incentive to keep on saving energy, particularly when you're busy."

He argued that the introduction of real-time energy meters could help firms cut their energy use in much the same way that providing miles-per-gallon data to drivers often helps them drive more efficiently.

"Businesses using the monitors say they're surprised by what actually uses energy in the workplace and they have really changed their behaviour to become more energy efficient," he said, adding that simple energy-efficiency measures could cut businesses' bills by up to 20 percent.