Energy costs information in manufacturing companies: A systematic literature review

Accurate, detailed, and up-to-date information on energy costs is crucial for energy management in manufacturing companies. Yet, to what extent is such energy costs information actually available and used? This study reviews empirical information provided in papers published in research journals about the availability and use of energy costs information in manufacturing companies. The study aims to focus both on energy-intensive companies as well as non-energy-intensive companies, and also to distinguish between the practices of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) vs. large companies. The literature review covers 23 journals in the fields of business, accounting, energy, and engineering, leading to the final sample that includes 51 papers for the analysis. Most studies in this sample concern energy-intensive and large companies. The most striking result is that with only few exceptions, almost no studies provide a nuanced description of how measuring and allocating energy costs is being done. For example, almost no studies investigate specific cost allocation bases, the accuracy of cost allocations, or differentiation between first-stage allocation and second-stage allocation. Nevertheless, the overall impression is that many manufacturing companies resort to imprecise methods for measuring and allocating energy costs. They seem to lack much of the cost information necessary for energy management, such as information needed for improving energy efficiency, evaluating energy efficiency improvement investments, and holding managers accountable for energy efficiency.