Business electricity prices

[Strontium Dog]

I help to run a small community hall. We are finding electricity is v expensive. We pay commercial rates plus 20% VAT. Our usuage is about 70000Kw pa.

However the standing charge is a killer. It is several pounds per day. We are being told that the reason the standing charges are so high is we have what are called half hourly meters. Seemingly we are unable to change our type of meter? This all sounds odd to me. Is there anyone who understands about these half hour meters?.

 

[NickGrogan]

Yep, if you have a half hourly meter, then you will be hit with higher standing charges.

The bad news its almost impossible to change a half hourly meter to non half hourly, and Ofgem are in the process of changing almost ALL business meters to half hourly.

This is part of the net zero plan as it is hoped that suppliers will create tariffs that change in price through the day, and people usage will change as they adapt to the new pricing.

A bit like Octopus with the free/very cheap off peak hours.

Happy to chat in detail about your meter if you want to message me.

 

[Byzantium]

You do NOT pay the VAT. You reclaim 100% of the VAT you spend so it is immaterial.

If you cannot afford £5 or £10 a day, you have bigger problems.

You can get half hourly meters changed to normal meters. Contact your supplier.

 

[Strontium Dog]

You do NOT pay the VAT. You reclaim 100% of the VAT you spend so it is immaterial.

If you cannot afford £5 or £10 a day, you have bigger problems.

You can get half hourly meters changed to normal meters. Contact your supplier.

We are a small charity. We cannot recover input VAT as we perform exempt activities.

 

[Byzantium]

We are a small charity. We cannot recover input VAT as we perform exempt activities.

Well, as a charity, you have other tax advantages that proper businesses don't face.

 

[fisicx]

Well, as a charity, you have other tax advantages that proper businesses don't face.

I’m a trustee of a small charity and we get no tax advantages.

 

[NickGrogan]

You do NOT pay the VAT. You reclaim 100% of the VAT you spend so it is immaterial.

If you cannot afford £5 or £10 a day, you have bigger problems.

You can get half hourly meters changed to normal meters. Contact your supplier.

No you can't, only in very rare circumstances, and those are reducing.

You cannot reclaim VAT if you are not VAT registered, for example, if you're a charity as in this case

 

[NickGrogan]

I’m a trustee of a small charity and we get no tax advantages.

Do you have any energy supplies? You should not be paying CCL and should be in 5% VAT - if its use for charitable purposes. Doesnt apply to shops.

 

[Jasminka]

Half-hourly metering itself isn’t the problem, it’s how suppliers price the associated network and data charges. For a site using ~70,000 kWh/year, HH metering is fairly common now and, as mentioned above, increasingly unavoidable.


That said, standing charges can vary a lot between suppliers, so it’s worth getting a proper HH comparison rather than assuming they’re fixed. Also, whether VAT is reclaimable depends on the organisation’s status — not all community halls can reclaim 100%, so that point isn’t universal.


A specialist business energy broker or HH-focused supplier may be able to reduce the standing charge even if the meter type can’t be changed.