British Gas Evolve

Rameshlcc

I am BGV customer since April 2020. My contract is ending in April 2021. On my last bill they have advised me that I am £170 in debit. Since current lockdown with NIL income I was doing my financial recalculation and looking at all bills very carefully. I looked at my recent energy bill of Feb 2021. The calculation of gas bill appears odd as unit needs to change in KWH and then amount calculated (not noticed this before). I am not sure anyone who is BGV customer has looked at their bills. I have done my calculation and found I am overcharged which only came apparent when I used their units to KWH calculation formula. I would appreciate if anyone can throw any light on this.

How we calculate your gas cost as per British Gas EVOLVE (not mentioned on bills but I found on their website)

The amount of energy produced by gas can fluctuate. So to work out a consistent price, we convert the units you’ve used into kilowatt hours of energy, or KWh. To do this, we use the standard formula below – all energy companies measure energy this way.

Gas units used (as shown on your statement) x caloric value (as shown on your statement) x 1.02264 volume correction ÷ 3.6 kWh conversion = kWh used

Date	Gas Unit	Calorific Value	KWH as per bill	Actual KWH	Difference	Correct charges	Excess Charged
11/05/2020---	22	39.4	696.8	246.2	450.6	£     5.91	10.84
11/06/2020---	7	39.4	221.7	78.3	143.4	£     1.88	3.45
13/07/2020---	7	39.4	221.7	78.3	143.4	£     1.88	3.45
11/08/2020---	2	39.4	63.3	22.4	40.9	£     0.54	0.98
14/09/2020---	7	39.4	221.7	78.3	143.4	£     1.88	0.98
12/10/2020---	15	39.4	475.1	167.9	307.2	£     4.04	7.38
11/11/2020---	41	39.4	1298.6	458.9	839.7	£   11.03	20.19
15/12/2020---	71	39.3	2243.1	792.6	1450.5	£   19.05	34.88
11/01/2021---	72	39.2	2269	801.7	1467.3	£   19.27	35.28
16/02/2021---	78	39	2445.5	864.1	1581.4	£   20.77	38.02
					Over charged		155.45

cattom

I have changed to b/g evolve from octopus, because they qouted a better deal. change over started 1st of feb. so I will have a look at that in due course. thanks for the thread.

bagand96

The calculations BGE are using are for an imperial meter measuring in feet (ft3).  Your own calculations are for a metric meter measuring in metres (m3).

To find out who is correct, you need to look at your meter which will say ft3 or m3 on it.

Rameshlcc

Hi bagand96
On my meter it states ft3. I can only find one formula on BGV website. 

bagand96

Rameshlcc said:

Hi bagand96
On my meter it states ft3. I can only find one formula on BGV website. 

In which case the BGE calculations are correct.  Your link to the BG website doesn't work so I can't see exactly what their website says. The formula you've posted is for a metric m3 meter. It misses out a step, if you have an older ft3 meter then it needs to be converted into m3 by multiplying by 2.83.

See the following from Which? How to read your gas meter - Which? Switch

Calculating gas use

Most people use more energy in the winter months for heating and lighting

Although gas meters measure the amount of gas used in hundreds of cubic feet or cubic metres, gas bills display your use in kilowatt hours (kWh). The industry standard formula for converting cubic measurements to kWh is as follows.

• Subtract your current gas meter reading from your previous reading to work out how many cubic meters or feet you have used.
• If your measure is in cubic feet, multiply by 2.83 to convert to meters.
• Multiply by 1.02264.
• Multiply by the 'calorific value' (find this on your bill, or ask your gas supplier).
• Divide by 3.6 to work out your kWh figure
• Multiply the kWh figure by your pence per kWh rate (find this on your bill, or ask your gas supplier) to give the cost of gas used.

Step in bold is the bit you've missed (which isn't on the BG site?)

But your bill is correct I'm afraid.

Rameshlcc

Thanks bagand96 for clarification. My previous energy company BULB had it on their all the bills next to gas prices above instruction how to calculate units to KWH. I searched all the BGV site for correct information. NO one answers their telephone lines . For 3 days I tried and every time after 90 mins it got cut off. Their chat system is not working either. I tried on BG as I am a priority customer but their customer service refused to deal with my query. I have also sent e mail to BGV but no reply. I am warning anyone who is with BGV to switch ASAP as their customer service is non-existence. 

Rameshlcc

I have received satisfactory guidance in this thread. Can anyone advise how to close this thread?

niktheguru

You don't need to close it, it doesn't work like that. Now you've got your answer, thats it. Good luck.

Rameshlcc

Thanks niktheguru