UNDERSTAND YOUR ENERGY BILL – TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW.
Energy Terms | Meaning |
---|---|
Dual Fuel | Fuel means gas or electricity. Dual Fuel means a supply of both your gas and electricity from the same energy provider. |
Tariff | This is the package you sign up to with the energy company. They usually name the tariff. The two most common tariffs are fixed and variable. (Octopus calls it flexible) Fixed tariff means you get the price per kWh of energy fixed for a period of time. So one kWh will always cost you the same. It could be fixed for 12 or 24 months as an example. |
VAT | Value Added Tax. This is sales tax added by the government. |
kWh | A kilowatt is how energy is measured. (kWh) Like cm or inches, grams and kilograms. It measures energy. So you get charged per kWH you use. |
Unit Cost | This is the price you pay per kWh. |
Standing charge | This is a fixed amount you pay per day regardless how much energy you use. It pays for maintaining the supply to your home etc. |
So your energy bill will show the amount of kWh you use per month and times it by the unit cost per kWh. Then they add on the daily charge eg 31 x 21p and VAT. |