Standing Charge

DownTrodden

I have just had an electricity bill for £19 of which only £3 was electricity, the rest was standing charge. What justification can there be for this? All the wires, switches, distribution board etc belong to me not them. I'm responsible for their purchase and maintenance, so what can they be charging me for, even when I'm not using any power? Are there suppliers who don't charge £16 / month for not supplying me?

lstar337

DownTrodden wrote: »

I have just had an electricity bill for £19 of which only £3 was electricity, the rest was standing charge. What justification can there be for this? All the wires, switches, distribution board etc belong to me not them. I'm responsible for their purchase and maintenance, so what can they be charging me for, even when I'm not using any power? Are there suppliers who don't charge £16 / month for not supplying me?

You own the cables all the way back to the power station?

AFAIK, the standing charge is for general maintenance of the grid.

There are suppliers who do not charge a standing charge, you might want to switch to one of them if you are a very low consumer.

macman

The charge is for the maintenance of the supply network, your meter and billing.
If you don't like it, then switch to an NSC tariff.

Cardew

DownTrodden wrote: »

What justification can there be for this?

You pay a standing charge for water sewerage - even if you use no water.

Telephone line rental even if you make no calls.

Council tax for your property, even if you don't live in it(yes you can get exempt for 12 months)

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

macman wrote: »

If you don't like it, then switch to an NSC tariff.

Unfortunately the OP doesn't seem to be aware of their existence.

DownTrodden wrote: »

Are there suppliers who don't charge £16 / month for not supplying me?

dogshome

No Standing Charge tariffs are almost extinct and will soon cease to exist, which is due to Ofgem's drive for simpler tariffs which will all have a Daily Standing Charge

Two options for very low users would be Ebico who have never had NSC or Daily Charge tariffs, or an n'power tariff with 12months cash-back that virtually cancels out the Daily Charges paid

macman

Another parallel-you still pay have to pay road tax on your car even if you only drive it for a mile per week.

DragonQ

There's essentially three types of tariff:

Standing Charge + Unit Charge
Primary Unit Charge + Secondary Unit Charge
Unit Charge

The second type is usually identical to the first type, except that the standing charge is just embedded in the primary unit price, so as long as you use at least enough units to reach the secondary unit charge you'll be paying the same either way.

The third option is rarer but would probably be best for OP. Ebico offers these tariffs, not sure if any other companies do.

lstar337

macman wrote: »

Another parallel-you still pay have to pay road tax on your car even if you only drive it for a mile per week.

Very unfair really. I have long thought that VED should be abolished and put on to fuel. That way, those who use the roads the most, pay for their upkeep. It would also make sure that lorry drivers from europe contribute to road upkeep, as VED doesn't apply to them.

Wywth

DownTrodden wrote: »

I have just had an electricity bill for £19 of which only £3 was electricity, the rest was standing charge. What justification can there be for this? All the wires, switches, distribution board etc belong to me not them. I'm responsible for their purchase and maintenance, so what can they be charging me for, even when I'm not using any power? Are there suppliers who don't charge £16 / month for not supplying me?

Does it matter how the final price is arrived at?
Surely what is important is having what is the best deal for you.

Follow this advice:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

joncombe

Cardew wrote: »

You pay a standing charge for water sewerage - even if you use no water.

Telephone line rental even if you make no calls.

Council tax for your property, even if you don't live in it(yes you can get exempt for 12 months)

You pay a standing charge for water but then can use as much as you want.

You pay a line rental but you get free weekend and evening calls (at least I do with Virgin media).

You pay council tax but you get benefits from it (e.g. rubbish collected, roads maintained, grass verges cut etc.).

But with energy companies standing charge you have to pay for it but you get no benefit in return. If a standing charge provided a certain number of "inclusive" units each day/month it would be fairer. This would mean energy companies would get an income from those using no energy that are connected (e.g. second homes) but wouldn't penalise low users to anything like the same degree.

I certainly don't believe £16 per household per month is the cost of maintaining the infrastructure and sending a bill every 6 months (probably by email).