Are you now paying significantly more than you used to and have charges appear on your bill that you don’t recognise?

I regularly find that our customers who were affected by the P272 are struggling to understand what this really means for them in terms of their electricity contracts. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify how the P272 upgrades will affect our customers who have had or still have a maximum demand meter.

For those that are unaware each business energy meter has a profile class depending on energy use and when it is used. P272 is a regulation for changes made to electricity meters with profile classes 05, 06, 07 and 08. To find out what profile class you have take a look at the first two digits of your Meter Point Administration Number, which you will find on your electricity bill and looks like this.

There are mainly two types of half hourly supply meters - one is Whole Current (WC) and the other is Current Transformer (CT). If your meter was upgraded to become a half hourly supply CT meter you will have an added charge on your bill for your Available Supply Capacity (ASC). This refers to the amount of electricity that your District Network Operator (DNO) is required to make available for your site. Essentially, it is the maximum electricity you can draw from the grid at any one time. If you have the capacity for a large supply they will set your ASC at a large amount regardless of what you are using. It is important that you are on the correct ASC rate, as it will save you money; we recommend that you double check your bill to ensure you are not being charged for more electricity than you are actually using.The changes will allow business electricity suppliers to record energy use more accurately by using half hourly supply. If you had a 05, 06, 07 and 08 your meter will have been transferred remotely so that readings are taken every 30 minutes automatically.

If all this is completely baffling but you have charges on your bill that you don’t recognise then please call us on 024 7669 8885 and we will explain them to you.