How to read your electricity bill

What’s on the bill?

There are many bits of information about the customer, their home, and electricity usage and associated charges to be found on a bill. Each bill will also tell you your current balance and the amount due from this bill.

• Account information
• Customer details
• Previous bill
• Remainder due
• Breakdown of electricity charges
• PSO Levy
• Standing Charges
• VAT
• Total Amount Due

Account details

At the top of any electricity bills, usually in the right hand corner, will be your personal details. These include the following:

• Account Number: The number identifying your account with the electricity supplier
• Tariff Name: The name of your specific electricity plan
• MPRN: Your meter point reference number, which identifies your property’s connection to the electricity grid.
• Meter Configuration Code: The MCC identifies what type of electricity meter you have.
• Distribution Group: The DG code, DG1 or DG2 in most cases, identifies if you are an urban or rural customer.
• Profile Code: This indicates your expected consumption level to make sure you’re being charged the right tariffs.

Customer details

This simply provides the name and address of the customer for whom the bill is due. On some bills the supply address and the billing address may be provided separately, so don’t worry if you see your address duplicated.

Details of previous bill

Electricity bills typically start with a summary of your previous bill, details of the payments made on that bill, and the balance brought forward.

If you have not paid off the entirety of the previous bill, the remaining balance brought forward will be added to the total due at the end of the newer bill.

Breakdown of electricity usage

The main portion of your bill is a breakdown of your electricity usage in the billing period. This will include the number of kWh units used, the electricity rate, and the amount due.

If your electricity plan has multiple rates, such as a smart plan with day, night, and peak rates, each of these will be displayed separately. For each different rate you will have the usage in that time period, the price per kWh, and the total due by multiplying them.

Standing charges

Below your electricity usage you will see a breakdown of your standing charge for the billing period. On your bill this shows the number of units/days in the billing period, and daily rate, and the final figure.

PSO levy

Your PSO Levy will be displayed as a monthly rate rather than a daily one. This means the bill will show one or two “units” depending on your billing cycle. After this comes the monthly rate, and the total amount for this period.

VAT on electricity products

All charges in an electricity bill are subject to VAT at a rate of 9%. This is displayed after the breakdown of charges rather than at the same time. The figures above are exclusive of VAT.

The section with VAT may contain a figure for all electricity charges before tax is applied as well as the amount of tax due.

If your contract has ended

If your contract has come to an end during the billing period in question then you will see double the usual amount of information for electricity usage and standing charges.

For each electricity tariff you will see the relevant rates and usage up to the end of the contract. You will also see below them the out of contract rates and usage from that date up to the end of the billing period. This also applies to standing charges.

The total amount due

The main figure on the bill will be the total amount of money which you owe for this billing period. This includes all charges, VAT applied to them, and any balance which has been carried over from the previous billing period.

The importance of understanding your bills

Being able to read an electricity bill in full is essential to understanding how much you are using over the course of the year, what you are paying, and how much you can save by switching.

It is also the best place to look for information about your property and electricity connection in case you forget.