Gas - Southern Electric

Steve_xx

My friend has just had gas installed and chose Southern Electric to provide the gas.

There's a complex equation for working out the cost, ie converting the units to kilowatt hours. Is this a standard equation and what is the equation?

Also, the meter that they have installed appears to be running backwards. This all sounds like fun. I wonder what he should do?

benjdr

Here's some info on the calculation:
http://www.gas-guide.org.uk/meters.html

Cardew

The calorific value of gas changes slightly so you need that figure for an accurate calculation.

However if you have a metric meter(measures in cubic metre which all the covers all the new meters) 1 unit(1 cu mtr) is approx 11.5 kWh and won't vary much from that figure.

The older Imperial meters(measures in cubic ft) and 1 unit(100 cu ft) is approx 32kWh.

Incidentally these meters have dials where one rotates clockwise and the other counter clockwise - not easy to read at a quick glance - this may be what you mean by running backwards.

Steve_xx

Cardew wrote: »

The calorific value of gas changes slightly so you need that figure for an accurate calculation.

However if you have a metric meter(measures in cubic metre which all the covers all the new meters) 1 unit(1 cu mtr) is approx 11.5 kWh and won't vary much from that figure.

The older Imperial meters(measures in cubic ft) and 1 unit(100 cu ft) is approx 32kWh.

Incidentally these meters have dials where one rotates clockwise and the other counter clockwise - not easy to read at a quick glance - this may be what you mean by running backwards.

The meter seems to be a new one wiith three red digits at the end and five black digits. It started off at 99999, but it seems to be travelling backwards, ie now reads 99993!

Steve_xx

So then it looks to me like I would calculate as follows:

No of units used (currently 6) X 1.02264 X 39.3 divided by 3.6 = 66.897kwh
- then multiply 66.897 by the unit charge, ie 3.11p or whatever.

Is it correct?

Terrylw1

Not sure on the gas front, but in terms of elec the meter reader would submit the next reading (or maybe your Supplier would spot it from your submitted readings) and an investigation would begin. An engineer would come out and change it and your Supplier could try to estimate your usage.

Worth noting however that for the Supplier to be billed, they need data at the distribution end. However, Suppliers may "settle" on an estimate until future estimates catch up with this later.

So, it would depend on how your Supplier operates and whether they intend pay an estimated annual consumption for the 12 months ahead or reduce it to a EAC/AQ.

Steve_xx

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Not sure on the gas front, but in terms of elec the meter reader would submit the next reading (or maybe your Supplier would spot it from your submitted readings) and an investigation would begin. An engineer would come out and change it and your Supplier could try to estimate your usage.

Worth noting however that for the Supplier to be billed, they need data at the distribution end. However, Suppliers may "settle" on an estimate until future estimates catch up with this later.

So, it would depend on how your Supplier operates and whether they intend pay an estimated annual consumption for the 12 months ahead or reduce it to a EAC/AQ.

Yes it will need to be rectified at some point I guess. The units used are not in question, ie the meter is simply winding backwards from 99999. So they will simply charge for how many are used from 99999 backwards. The fiasco will likely ocur when they fix it and then no doubt there will be a lack of communication within their billing department as to what has happened.

Cardew

Steve_xx wrote: »

Yes it will need to be rectified at some point I guess. The units used are not in question, ie the meter is simply winding backwards from 99999. So they will simply charge for how many are used from 99999 backwards. The fiasco will likely ocur when they fix it and then no doubt there will be a lack of communication within their billing department as to what has happened.

What faith you have in Utility company's accounting systems!!!

They will take a reading of 99993 and either send you a bill for approx £27,000 + VAT or ignore it and give you an estimated reading!!!

Should be fun - I can just hear the "no Sir that's impossible" conversation!!

Terrylw1

They could charge you for the bill based on this but they also need a record of the start reading. I can't say that I've ever seen a meter go in on 99999 though.

Your Supplier has to be billed as well and they will be told that they need to rectify a meter running backwards. I suspect that if it doesn't go on long, the charges won't get passed onto them as they can't be billed backwards either.

To be honest, if they rectify it quick you may get away with it, but best to keep it in your mind that you may need to pay the units used.

Cardew

Steve_xx wrote: »

Yes it will need to be rectified at some point I guess. The units used are not in question, ie the meter is simply winding backwards from 99999. So they will simply charge for how many are used from 99999 backwards. The fiasco will likely ocur when they fix it and then no doubt there will be a lack of communication within their billing department as to what has happened.

What faith you have in Utility company's accounting systems!!!

They will take a reading of 99993 and either send you a bill for approx £27,000 + VAT or ignore it and give you an estimated reading!!!

Should be fun - I can just hear the "no Sir that's impossible" conversation!!

Terrylw1

You need to be very careful about your billing. If the metering company submit a reading to the Supplier causing a rollover as Cardew has advised, it will cause a massive jump in your bill.

If it exceeds a certain threshold (likely if you are a domestic customer) then they will be sent a High AQ from Elexon who will expect them to clear the issue inside 30 days. Whilst it's a licence commitment that they clear the High AQ, they can take longer if needed.

So, you may get lucky and have a specialist clearing the High AQ side which will speed it up.

It's going to come down to you being careful though.