Standing Charges

DarkTower

Thinking of switching Gas & Elec from BG and would like advice on what are the advantages/disadvantages of Standing Charges.
BGs Standing Charges are zero but the supplier I was thinking about switching to has Standing Charges of £138/Gas and £21/Elec. Still gives me a yearly save of just over £200 but I don't understand how the Standing Charges affect things.
Thanks for any info/guidance.

Premier_2

Just go with the tariff that gives cheapest annual charge.

A standing charge is a charge that is made pro-rata daily even if you don't use any energy that day (or more accurately over the quarter as that is usually the timeframe the standing charge is applied).
A standing charge is only an issue if you regularly do not use sufficient energy to warrant paying the standing charge. On no standing charge tariffs, most suppliers charge a higher price on the first units used that day/quarter to cover the cost of the standing charge (tier 1 rate).

Comparison sites base their results on you using the maximum amount of tier 1 units, although with gas for example you may use all your gas in the winter only and none in the summer (assuming gas is only used for heating purposes)