Electricity & Gas Bills
Understanding Your Energy Bill
Running your own business means your time will be limited. It’s easy to forget about admin during your busy workweek. However, taking the time to investigate your business energy bills could potentially save you money and boost your bottom line – if you know what you’re looking for.
Business energy bills are unlike domestic energy bills, and often include much more detail. At times, they can be difficult to understand, but they are in fact quite simple. Here, we’ll break down your energy bill:
Domestic vs Commercial Energy Bills
There is no difference between the type of energy you receive at home or at work. The same power is delivered to plug sockets for homes and businesses. The only change is the pricing structure of business energy contracts and the way your business is billed.
The charges on business energy bills are varied, especially when it comes to electricity.
Here are some charges you can expect to see on an energy bill:
VAT: VAT is a standard rate charge of 20% added to business energy bills if the energy is used exclusively for non-domestic or business purposes. Domestic customers pay 5% VAT.
Climate Change Levy (CCL): The CCL encourages businesses to improve their energy efficiency. This is why it only applies on Unit Rates (the cost per kWh consumed). VAT is also added to CCL charges at the standard rate. If you pay VAT at the standard rate, you’ll also pay for CCL too.
Unit Rate: Your Unit Rate is the amount you pay for each kWh of energy you consume. Your Unit Rate is usually fixed at a set price – but the cost of your energy can still vary depending on your business energy consumption.
Standing charge: YA standing charge is applied to all business electricity tariffs but not all business gas tariffs. It’s the same amount each day irrespective of how much energy is actually used.
Understanding Your Bill
Each supplier will likely have a different layout and use different names for charges on their bills. However, despite these differences, some terms are very common and appear very often of business gas and electricity bills.
| Invoice Type and Period | This shows you if your business energy bill is for gas or electricity. The ‘period’ will tell you the dates for which you have been billed. |
| Total Amount | This is simply the total amount of money you need to pay your business energy supplier. |
| Consumption Data | Some energy bills give you a data snapshot of your energy consumption forthat period. The energy will be calculated in kilowatt hours (KWh). |
| MPAN / MPRN | For electricity, your energy bill will show your Meter Point Administration Number (MPAN). For gas, you’ll have a Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN). It’s worth remembering these numbers as they’ll speed up any process when dealing with suppliers. |
| Read | Your read is either based on an estimate read or an actual read. With BusinessEnergyQuotes.com, we access your actual reads from the gas and electricity grids, allowing us to provide the most accurate business energy quotes. |
| Supply number | The supply number is a unique reference number used to identify you within the energy system. It isn’t the same as your meter numbers. |
| Meter serial number | This is the same as your meter; it is the serial number of the meter that supplies your business premises. |
Comparing Quotes
With the rising cost of energy, and the increases to non-commodity fees, businesses today arepaying a high cost for their energy. Many businesses are already on inflated rates due to a lack of switching. Overpaying for energy will almost certainly affect your business’ finances.
It’s easy to forget about your renewal when you’re busy. But this can cost you money if you move into a rollover contract. Just like you’d look after your car insurance, mobile phone contract or home insurance, you should also look for cheaper offers on your business energy quotes.
How can BusinessEnergyQuotes.com help?
BusinessEnergyQuotes.com is an online price comparison engine dedicated to making business energy switching easier for small and micro-businesses. We only use accurate energy reads, using your actual consumption to find the cheapest business energy deals fromover 21 business energy suppliers.
We understand that time for your business is very important. That's why we've made it possible to switch your business energy to a cheaper plan in under three minutes, from start to finish. We search more suppliers, giving you more choice and greater savings.