Standing charge what is it

If you don't have any of these, you can download them for free. Talk to your company's IT department, which may be able to provide you with an alternative browser. Help Centre. All Understanding your bill topics. What are standing charges? How much are my standing charges? These standing charges remain the same regardless of your gas or electricity usage. They pay for things like meter readings, and keeping your house connected to the mains electricity and gas supply.

There will also be costs related to government schemes included in your standing charges. Examples of these schemes include ones that aim at CO2 reduction and ones that are designed to help homes in need. Despite floating the idea a few years ago, Ofgem have not imposed a limit on how high a standing charge can be. However, the overall energy price cap they do enforce does account for standing charges. Source: Ofgem.

The amount you have to pay will also depend on whether you are on a single-fuel or a dual-fuel tariff. There are currently no energy deals priced below standard tariffs, so we have temporarily suspended our switching service. Energy standing charges range from around 10p to 80p a day for gas and 5p to 60p a day for electricity. Prepayment energy tariffs, where you pay-as-you-go using a prepayment meter, also include daily standing charges for gas and electricity.

Prepayment customers are typically charged around 28p a day in standing charges but, again, this will depend on your supplier and where you live. If your supplier imposes standing charges, you will still pay them if you have a smart meter. These charges will be included in the total shown on your meter, which tells you how much energy you have used per day, week, and month.

So even if you use no energy all day, the display will still show that you have been charged a small amount. Your energy supplier sets the level of gas and electricity standing charges that you have to pay.

Energy regulator Ofgem ruled that energy tariffs no longer need include a standing charge following recommendations by the Competition and Markets Authority back in However, the vast majority of energy suppliers continue to add them as part of the overall energy cost. When you compare energy deals at a comparison website, the price you are quoted will include standing charges for both gas and electricity, as well as the energy itself.

You may be able to avoid paying gas and electricity standing charges if you can find a zero standing charge tariff. Standing charges are measured daily, and they can vary greatly for both gas and electricity. Typical charges for electricity range between 6p and 60p per kWh per day, and for gas it ranges between 10p to 80p per kWh per day. There is currently no cap on the standing charge, as there is with the kWh on standard variable tariffs, but there are talks to implement them in the future.

The advantage of having no standing charge on your energy tariff is that you only pay for the energy you use, nothing more. The unit rate is the price-per-unit of the gas and electricity you consume in your household.

For example, electricity is measured in kilowatt per hour kWh , so a unit rate would be the cost per each kWh used! If your energy tariff does not have a standing charge, your price-per-unit is going to be higher to compensate.