Your energy bill tells you far more than what you owe, if you know where to look. Read it line by line and you can see whether you’re being charged for the right meter, on real readings, at the rates you agreed, with the right taxes on top. And if you’d rather not do that every month, we’ll do it for you.
Key points
- No two bills look alike: Layouts vary by supplier, contract and meter, but the building blocks are the same.
- Check the readings: An “E” next to a reading means it’s an estimate, not what you actually used.
- Rates should match your contract: The unit rate and standing charge are where most errors hide.
- Taxes are on there too: CCL and VAT sit on top of your energy charges.
- We’ll check it for you: Our bill validation checks every bill against your agreed rates and recorded consumption.
Why Do Business Energy Bills All Look So Different?
If you’ve ever compared two business energy bills side by side, you’ll know there’s no standard layout. The details depend on the size of your business, the type of contract, the type of meter (half-hourly, non-half-hourly or smart) and your supplier, and some suppliers give more detail than others.
What sits behind the price is much the same, though. Your unit rate and standing charge are made up of wholesale energy, network charges, government schemes and levies, taxes such as VAT and the Climate Change Levy, third-party services such as sales commissions and brokerage, and the supplier’s own costs. Everything after the wholesale energy is a non-commodity cost, and most of them are built into your rates rather than shown as separate lines, so don’t expect to find each one itemised.
The easiest way to think about your bill is as two halves. The top half says who you are and which supply it’s for. The bottom half says what you used and what you’re paying for it. Let’s go through both.
The Top Half: Account, Supply and Meter Details
Account number. This is your supplier’s reference for your business, and it stays the same on every bill. It’s one of the first things we look for when you send us a bill.
Supply numbers: MPAN and MPRN. Often labelled the supply or meter point numbers, these identify the supply itself: the MPAN (Meter Point Administration Number) identifies your electricity supply, and the MPRN (Meter Point Reference Number) does the same thing for gas. Suppliers almost always need them to quote, so they’re among the first details we gather, and if they’re hard to spot on your bill, we’ll find your MPAN and MPRN for you.
Check the meter details on the bill against the meter on your wall, too. Imagine you’re in a shared building with three units on one landing and three meters in one cupboard. One wrong number and you could be paying for next door’s lights all year.
Billing period and bill date. These show the dates the charges cover and when the bill was issued. Don’t skip past the bill date: if you’re a microbusiness, the 12-month back billing rule is measured from it.
Meter Readings: Real or Estimated?
Next comes the reading section: an opening reading, a closing reading, and the difference between them, which is what you’ve used in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kWh is the unit used to measure both electricity and gas.
Check whether each reading is actual or estimated. Look for an “E” or the word “estimate” next to a reading. An estimate is the supplier’s best guess at what you’ve used. Too high and you’re paying for energy you haven’t used; too low and you could face a catch-up bill later. Our advice? Give your own readings and photograph the meter display as evidence.
Half-hourly meters take the guesswork out. Because your use is recorded every half hour, the supplier can work out what you actually used instead of estimating it.
Unit Rates and Standing Charges: Where Errors Hide
Unit rate. This is the amount you’re charged for each unit of gas or electricity you use. Your bill multiplies your kWh by the unit rate, which may be shown in pence per kWh. If your contract has more than one unit rate, each should show its own kWh and rate.
Standing charge. This is a fixed daily or monthly amount you pay your supplier whatever you use, covering things such as maintenance and keeping you connected. It’s usually a daily charge, so on a bill you’ll normally see it worked out by the day.
These two lines are where most errors hide. The rates on your bill should match the rates in your contract, and the number of days in the standing charge should match the billing period. Has a bill ever gone up when you haven’t used any more? That’s what our bill validation is for: we check each bill against your agreed contract rates and recorded consumption, and take up any errors with the supplier for you. And if your rates are simply too high, we’ll compare business electricity prices for you.
Capacity Charges, CCL and VAT
Capacity charges. Larger electricity supplies often have an agreed supply capacity, and if you use more than that, you can see an excess capacity charge on your bill. These lines come down to your agreed capacity and your maximum demand and kVA, so it pays to check the capacity on your bill still matches how your site runs.
Climate Change Levy (CCL). CCL is a tax that HMRC applies to energy supplied for industrial and commercial use. The main Climate Change Levy rates are £0.00801 per kWh for both electricity and gas from 1 April 2026, rising to £0.00827 per kWh from 1 April 2027. Picture a month where you use 2,000 kWh of electricity: at the 2026 rate, that’s £16.02 of CCL. It doesn’t apply to domestic use or to charities’ non-business use.
VAT. Business energy that doesn’t qualify for a lower rate carries VAT at the standard rate, which is 20%. Under HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/19, a lower rate applies to qualifying use, such as charities’ non-business use, and to very small supplies. For electricity, that’s an average of no more than 33 kWh a day or 1,000 kWh a month; for gas, no more than 145 kWh a day or 4,397 kWh a month. From 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2027, qualifying supplies of electricity in Great Britain, such as electricity for a charity’s non-business use, carry VAT at 0%. If you think you might qualify for a lower rate of VAT on business electricity, we’ll check what your bill shows against the rules with you.
Fees. Some brokers’ fees are included in the supplier’s bill, and that’s how we’re paid. You don’t pay us a separate fee: our commission comes from the supplier and is included in the rates and charges in your supply contract, and we disclose it in full, in writing, before a contract is signed.
What Does This Mean for Your Business?
Reading your bill properly is the first step to paying the right amount. But you’ve got a business to run, and checking every line every month is a job you can hand to us.
- Bill validation: We check your bills against your agreed contract rates and recorded consumption, and take up errors with the supplier.
- Help when something’s wrong: Our dedicated customer service team helps with billing and meter issues, so you’re not left chasing the supplier.
- A clear comparison: When it’s time to renew, we compare prices from suitable suppliers for your sites and present the options that best suit your business.
- Renewals on time: We always advise arranging your next contract as early as possible, normally 12 months before your renewal date, and our retentions team keeps your end dates on record and sends renewal reminders.
A recent bill for each site is all we need to get started. It doesn’t always give us the whole picture, so we’ll usually ask you to sign a Letter of Authority (LOA) too. Our LOA lets us help you, not make decisions for you. Help with your contracts, bills and supplier queries: yes. Enter into a contract on your behalf: no. Some brokers ask for a “level 2” LOA that lets them sign contracts for you. Ours is a level 1 LOA, so only you can agree a contract.
Final Thoughts: Know What You’re Paying For
Once you know where to look, a business energy bill stops being a wall of numbers and starts telling you whether you’re paying the right amount. If you’d rather leave the checking to us, send us a recent bill and our Energy Team will go through it with you, whether or not you’re already working with us. Or book a call or ring us on 01273 914000. No pressure, just straightforward advice from people who know what to look for.