Understand your energy bill breakdown

When managing a corporate energy budget, it is critical to understand exactly what you are paying for.

 
 
 
 

What makes up your energy bill is complicated and there are many different elements that go into the tariff that you pay. 

At Unify Energy, we prioritise transparency in energy billing. This guide offers a clear breakdown of charges on your bills to ensure a full understanding of your energy costs.

COMPONENTS AVERAGE UNIT RATE AVERAGE STANDING CHARGE DESCRIPTION
Network and Metering 14% 62.03% These charges cover the cost of maintaining and operating both the national grid network and the local networks.
Environmental & Social Obligations 23% 0% This component supports government initiatives promoting renewable energy to achieve the UK's 2050 net-zero target.
Taxes 20% 20% VAT and other regulatory taxes are included here.
Operating Costs 5% 17.97% These cover Unify Energy's operating expenses, customer support, and account management.
Energy Costs 40% 0% This is the cost of the energy itself bought from energy producers on the wholesale market.

Disclaimer: These percentages will vary based on market fluctuations and may vary based on the specifics of a customer’s supply, including location, voltage and when the electricity is used. Charts and values may adjust to reflect current conditions.

What makes up your unit rate?

What makes up your Standard charge?

 
 
 
 
 
 

In-Depth Descriptions of Charges

    • Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS): Charges covering the costs of building and maintaining the transmission network.

    • Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS): Costs for matching the supply of electricity with demand.

    • Distribution Use of System (DUoS): Costs to maintain the local distribution network, adjusted by time of day to encourage off-peak usage.

    • Assistance for Areas with High Electricity Distribution Costs (AAHEDC): A surcharge distributed across all users to support regions with higher distribution costs, primarily in northern Scotland.

    • Capacity Market: A winter standby reserve which ensures energy demand can be met during peak times by contracting with energy producers to provide additional generation capacity.

      The TNUoS and DUoS costs are split between the unit rate and the standing charge that you pay.

    • Renewable Obligation (RO): A subsidy for accredited large renewable projects between 2002 and 2017. Even though the scheme is now closed to new projects it will continue for the life of the accredited projects.

    • Contracts for Difference (CfD): ROs replacement is CfD, this subsidy guarantees a price for generators with the differences between that and the market price paid for by suppliers.

    • Feed-in Tariff (FiT): Like RO, FiT is now closed to new generators but it was a scheme that provided a subsidy for small-scale renewable generators. This is mainly for rooftop solar projects.

    • These are the costs that UE incur to produce a bill and service our customers. This includes everything from having someone available to answer the phone to reading your meter.

    • This is the cost of the electricity we buy on the wholesale market or directly from renewable generators - these prices can be highly variable and are influenced by the cost of global commodities such as gas, oil & coal. The price that you will pay will vary depending on these market conditions but also when you use electricity.

    • Standing charges have increased dramatically in recent years. The main reason for this is that following Ofgems Targeted Charging Review (TCR) it was deemed fairer that a large proportion of TNUoS and DUoS costs should be recovered at a fixed daily rate rather than through the per kWh unit rate. Customers are allocated a band based on their historic capacity or historic usage and consequently standing charges can vary greatly and can be disproportionate if customers are in an inappropriate band. If your supply has had a change of use it may be appropriate to move the band, UE cannot decide this but we can support you in making a request to your Distribution Network Operator.

For more info or any questions, please contact us at hello@unifyenergy.co.uk.