Your Connect Energy Invoice

How to read you business energy invoice or bill

We get that you have so many competing demands for your time running a business - but it's really important if you're not comfortable with your Connect invoice that you have read below.

The example below illustrates a typical non-half hourly (NHH) invoice. This is for the vast majority of smaller businesses and Connect customers whose meters measure data monthly or quarterly. Typically larger customers such as supermarkets with many sites and higher consumption rates will have half hourly (HH) invoices where, not surprisingly, their meter measures data every 30 minutes.

InvoiceExample

This is unique to you and on all correspondence to you. Please use this when you want to contact us so we can quickly identify you.

 

MPAN is your Meter Point Administration Number and used for electricity and important to identify you if you want to switch supplier.  Please be aware that it’s not the same as your Account Number. 

You can see this on the second page of your invoice and starts with a large 'S' with the numbers in separated boxes. This reference number is used to identify individual electricity supply points.

 

There are 3 different types of reads we display here:

e- this is an estimated read based on your historic consumption. We've used this either we didn't receive from you, or we couldn't validate what you gave us.

r - this is our meter read. This would be when we've sent a meter reader over to take the read and therefore is what we call actual read.

y - this is your meter read - so the read that you've given to us and we've validated and therefore is also what we call an actual read.

We also have a few more nuggets of info for you here - 

Register: This shows which reading is associated to the particular register, e.g. 01 – Day, 02 - Night

Multiplier: if you use lots of energy, your meter could have a multiplier (normally 10) as your meter cannot keep up with the amount of energy being used so it could essentially go past 0 and over the previous reading again - so the multiplier slows the meter down by a certain amount (normally by 10) so when the reading does come in, it gets multiplied by 10 again.

The vast majority of Connect customers are set up on a Direct Debit that we collect on a monthly basis. You can see on your invoice when we plan to take this, but bear in mind it could be a few days after this date.

If you don't have a Direct Debit, you'll see instructions on how to make your payment. The quickest way is to give us a call using the telephone number stated. Remember you'll need to a pay and admin fee of £20 plus VAT if you are not making payment using Direct Debit so it's worth setting one up. You'll see this in the additional charge section if this is the case.

VAT (Value Added Tax) is added to all energy bills by the government. You will either pay 5% or 20% depending on your businesses status.

You can find out more here if you're paying the correct amount of VAT and how to rectify this if you don't think you are.

No surprises here, and is the largest cost on your energy invoice for the gas and electricity you've used. 

This is charged at a rate per kWh (kilowatt-hour) based on your meter readings.

Like all suppliers, your fixed charge will be a standing charge. This  is a daily fee for keeping your business property connected to the energy network. It's a bit like paying for line rental on your phone.  This is because we pay numerous fees to keep you connected - these include distribution, connection, balancing and settlement charges. 

You'll pay a fixed price per day, no matter how much energy your business uses.

That means you'll have to pay a standing charge even when you're not actively using energy, for example over a bank holiday weekend. 

 

This is to accommodate the CCL - The Climate Change Levy  is an environmental tax. It was introduced by the government to encourage businesses to reduce their energy consumption and operate in a greener way.

From 1 April 2020, the charge for electricity is £0.00811 per kWh, and £0.00406 for gas.

From 2021, it’s £0.00775 per kWh for electricity, and £0.00465 for gas

 

Moreover, if you're not paying by Direct Debit, you'll see the admin fee plus VAT for this here.