How Does Business Electricity Bills Charge?

Managing a business is a lot of work, and often, looking at your energy bills doesn't get much attention. But only 44% of your energy bill is what you pay for the electricity you use. The rest, the 56%, is unknown. We are here to help you understand your bill.

Business energy bills can seem a bit complicated, but they contain important information that can help you save money. We want to make it easier for you to understand your electricity bills and point out the important things you should look at before you think about changing your business electricity provider.

While reviewing your current electricity bill, you have to take note of a few key things on your bill:

• Standing Charge: This is a fixed fee just for being connected to the electricity supply.
• Unit Rate(s): This is the cost of the electricity you use, and it can vary.
• Contract End Date: Knowing when your electricity contract ends is important if you're thinking about changing providers or making a new deal.

Apart from these things you see on your bill, other factors affect your costs, even if they're not listed on the bill. In our guide, we'll help you know these hidden factors and explain how they can impact what you pay.

If you think your business's gas and electricity contracts are too expensive, the first step is to check your most recent energy bill. It tells you what kind of plan you have and if you're being charged correctly. Plus, it has other useful information that can help you save money. We're here to help you understand and manage your business energy costs.

The charges that are mentioned on your electricity bills.

Standing Charge : The standing charge on your electricity bill is a fixed fee that covers the cost of maintaining your electricity connection, regardless of how much electricity you use. It's a basic fee you pay just for being connected to the energy grid.

Unit Rate : The unit rate on your electricity bill is the cost you pay for the actual electricity you use. It's a variable charge that increases as your electricity consumption goes up. This rate is a key factor in determining your overall energy costs.

Contract End Date : It is the period on which your current fixed price period ends.

Climate Change Levy (CCL) : CCL, or Climate Change Levy, is a tax on energy usage by businesses. It's designed to encourage energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Businesses pay the CCL as a surcharge on their energy bills, and the rate varies depending on the type of energy used.

You won't have to pay the Climate Change Levy (CCL) if your business mostly uses clean, renewable energy. Also, if your business uses less electricity and gas, specifically below 33 kWh of electricity and 145 kWh of gas each day (or 12,045 kWh of electricity and 52,925 kWh of gas each year), you're exempt from this tax. Furthermore, if your business, like a B and B, care home, or campsite, has a residential part to it, you won't have to pay the CCL either.

Value Added Tax (VAT) : Value Added Tax (VAT) applies to business electricity to a standard rate of 20%. However, it's important to note that some businesses may qualify for a reduced rate of 5% VAT if they meet certain criteria, such as if they use less than an average of 33 kWh of electricity or 145kWh of gas a day or have a domestic or residential component in your business. VAT on business electricity is a cost that businesses should consider when budgeting for their energy expenses.

Smart Meter Charges : Businesses face charges for the installation and maintenance of smart meters for electricity. These costs are usually added to the overall electricity bill provided by the electricity supplier. Smart meters offer real-time data on electricity usage to help businesses manage consumption more efficiently.

The charges that are not shown on your business electricity bills.

Wholesale Energy : Electricity prices in the markets can go up and down a lot. This can make the cost of your electricity change too, energy prices change every half-hour.

To protect most businesses from these constant price changes, the prices they pay for electricity are set higher than the wholesale prices. But when these higher prices are reached, all the prices go up again, both for businesses and in the market where they buy the energy.

Transmission and Distribution : The price of moving your electricity from where it's made to where you use it changes depending on where you are. If you're far from where the energy comes from, it costs more to get it to you. You need to pay for both the cost of moving the energy and maintaining the roads that carry it. These costs are included in your energy bill.

Losses : This long energy journey has a double impact. First, there's the extra cost of moving energy over long distances. But when energy is transported, some of it gets lost along the way. The farther energy has to travel, the more gets lost. So, people who live far from where the energy is made end up paying more for this lost energy. Essentially, the cost of loss is like paying for energy that was put in but never received at the other end.

Industry Charges : The system of pipes, wires, different organizations, and rules is very complex. All of these things need money to keep running smoothly. It's not just about maintaining the system; it's also about making sure it can handle our future energy needs.

So, in your energy bills, a part of the cost is for covering these ongoing expenses. This money keeps the whole system working and ready for the future.

Government Initiatives : While the government clearly shows some charges like the Climate Change Levy on electricity bills, other fees aren't so easy to spot. For example, there's the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariff, which many businesses have to pay. These charges can be a bit controversial because they're not about keeping the energy flowing or fixing the network. Instead, they're about reducing carbon emissions in the fuel supply to meet global goals.