Charity Funded Playgroup paying excessive bills needs out of contract ..... HELP

Playtimes

Hello, 
I am a committee member of a charity funded preschool.
We are fighting to stay open and looking at everything we can to save money.
Our Energy bill (Electricity only) is monstrous for a small building, a recent bill calculated whilst we have been shut, was more than the previous bill whilst open ......
Over a 4 month period we have accrued over £900 of charges ?
Im am just looking for any guidance on how we may be able to end this contract early (end March 2022) in the hope that any savings we can make can maybe help keep us open, if only for a little longer ....
I have made comparisons using the average usage over the last year and most are giving half the amount we are paying now. I have spoken to the energy provider but as expected, it has proved a pointless task ....
Just wondering if anyone may have even a small amount of info or guidance they could offer ....

Many Thanks 

JJ_Egan

What is your usage/ readings per anum .

Gerry1

Usual advice about thinking kWh and daily charges, not ££.  Are the bills estimated?  If so, make sure you are proving monthly meter readings.  But presumably it's a business tariff where the rules are different, so you'll just have to look at your Ts &Cs very carefully: it's unlikely that you'll be able to break them, so you'll have to pay the price.

Farway

Presumably this is a business tariff? In which case jumping ship is not as strait forward as domestic

Just where is the leccy going if you use more shut than open? Something left on, hot water urn in the kitchen perhaps?

Gerry1

What are the meter readings, price/kWh and daily charge?

Playtimes

JJ_Egan ....... we have storage heaters ..... Day & Night reads ... So over a year the Day reads amount to 9580Kwh & Night reads 3266Kwh ........ a total of 12846Kwh ?

matelodave

You do really need to read your leccy meters at least once a month (both the peak and off peak registers) so you can see when it's being used . Likewise check your bills and send in readings once a month so you don't get any random estimates.

If you keep your own records and monitor your consumption you can then do something about controlling it rather than throwing a wobbly when the bill come in.

As others have said, if you are on a business tariff (who is your supplier and how much do you pay per kwh & s/c) you might find it difficult or even impossible to leave without paying a large penalty. If you are on a domestic tariff then it might only be £30-£50 to escape. You need to check your T & C's

Gerry1

Presumably the all the storage heaters were switched off at the end of March?  There should have been very little consumption during lockdown: weekly meter readings would have soon spotted anything untoward.

However, if you've let your bills be estimated then the computer will have assumed it's been Business As Usual the whole time.  Look at the latest readings on the bill: you may find the actual meter readings today are a lot lower.

Robin9

I've got a business tariff for a village hall but without the night units and I used a similar total at a cost of £1800.  I get billed monthly and pay by variable DD.  For the whole of 2020 and we've been closed like most others for much of it and have a bill of £600 (in 2019 it was £900)  Like others have suggested I think Estimated readings come into play.

A suggestion - are you in a village hall or similar - if so it should qualify for the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure grant of £10,000. Could they subsidise you ?  My hall is looking at subsidising or even free hire to get our users back - but much of out business is on hold.

Playtimes

Farway said:

Presumably this is a business tariff? In which case jumping ship is not as strait forward as domestic

Just where is the leccy going if you use more shut than open? Something left on, hot water urn in the kitchen perhaps?

Everything was turned off except fridge & alarm system

Playtimes

Gerry1 said:

Usual advice about thinking kWh and daily charges, not ££.  Are the bills estimated?  If so, make sure you are proving monthly meter readings.  But presumably it's a business tariff where the rules are different, so you'll just have to look at your Ts &Cs very carefully: it's unlikely that you'll be able to break them, so you'll have to pay the price.

Its looking this way .... unfortunately the place will probably close before the contract ends