issue with 'Ofgem' triggered move from Together Energy to British Gas

mark_c832

A heads-up/warning to others...

My former energy supplier, Together Energy, went into administration and my supplier was moved to British Gas.
When I got my first bill from British Gas I was shocked by the bill. On closer examination it appeared that during or part of the transfer the type of gas meter had changed to an old imperial type. The result of this was my usage was about 3 times higher than it should be. 

British Gas agreed to reissue the bill.

I hope that I am not alone in having this issue.  I'm not sure who is at fault during the transfer. When my supplier was Bristol Energy I had a smart meter installed through them by SMS and afterwards my bills were correct. So somewhere it was recorded that I had a meter reading in cubic metres. Then Together Energy bought Bristol Energy and my bills were still correct. 

Others who had followed a similar upgrade to smart meter may be affected in the same way.

On none of my bills does it indicate what units the gas meter is using. I could tell that British gas had it as an imperial meter as the multiple of units to KWhr was 39, for a metric metre this multiple would be about 10-11

Hope this is helpful.

Mark

viva1

mark_c832 said:

I could tell that British gas had it as an imperial meter as the multiple of units to KWhr was 39, for a metric metre this multiple would be about 10-11

Actually the multiplier for an imperial meter would be about 31-32 and not 39, but for a metric meter it will indeed be about 11 or thereabouts - the exact figure would of course depend on the calorific value of the gas at the time.

mark_c832

viva1 said:

mark_c832 said:

I could tell that British gas had it as an imperial meter as the multiple of units to KWhr was 39, for a metric metre this multiple would be about 10-11

Actually the multiplier for an imperial meter would be about 31-32 and not 39, but for a metric meter it will indeed be about 11 or thereabouts - the exact figure would of course depend on the calorific value of the gas at the time.

Thanks viva1, I've just checked my British Gas bill and it has the calorific value of 39 for each unit of usage. So looks like BG are overcharging on their billing.

TheMilkmansDad

I don't  think they are - the 39 is (i assume) the calorific value.

This ranges from 37.5 to 43.0, and is set by National Grid for each distribution zone.

How to work it out

1. Take away your last reading from your current reading. This is how many units you've used.
2. If you've got a metric meter (m3), you can ignore this step. ...
3. Multiply this number by the calorific value. ...
4. Multiply this number by 1.02264. ...
5. Divide this number by 3.6. ...
6. Multiply this number by the price-per-kWh.

QrizB

mark_c832 said:

viva1 said:

mark_c832 said:

I could tell that British gas had it as an imperial meter as the multiple of units to KWhr was 39, for a metric metre this multiple would be about 10-11

Actually the multiplier for an imperial meter would be about 31-32 and not 39, but for a metric meter it will indeed be about 11 or thereabouts - the exact figure would of course depend on the calorific value of the gas at the time.

Thanks viva1, I've just checked my British Gas bill and it has the calorific value of 39 for each unit of usage. So looks like BG are overcharging on their billing.

 You're confusing two different factors.

The calorific value is the number of MJ in a cubic metre of gas.

You then need to do some further calculations to work out the number of kWh in 100 cubic feet.

These calculations will be detailed on your bill but typically work out as between 31 and 32.

[Deleted User]

mark_c832 said:

A heads-up/warning to others...

My former energy supplier, Together Energy, went into administration and my supplier was moved to British Gas.
When I got my first bill from British Gas I was shocked by the bill. On closer examination it appeared that during or part of the transfer the type of gas meter had changed to an old imperial type. The result of this was my usage was about 3 times higher than it should be. 

British Gas agreed to reissue the bill.

I hope that I am not alone in having this issue.  I'm not sure who is at fault during the transfer. When my supplier was Bristol Energy I had a smart meter installed through them by SMS and afterwards my bills were correct. So somewhere it was recorded that I had a meter reading in cubic metres. Then Together Energy bought Bristol Energy and my bills were still correct. 

Others who had followed a similar upgrade to smart meter may be affected in the same way.

On none of my bills does it indicate what units the gas meter is using. I could tell that British gas had it as an imperial meter as the multiple of units to KWhr was 39, for a metric metre this multiple would be about 10-11

Hope this is helpful.

Mark

I hope that you are right. Post a picture of your gas meter: the meter will be annotated cubic feet or cubic metre.

QrizB

[Deleted User] said:

mark_c832 said:

When my supplier was Bristol Energy I had a smart meter installed through them by SMS and afterwards my bills were correct.
Others who had followed a similar upgrade to smart meter may be affected in the same way.

I hope that you are right. Post a picture of your gas meter: the meter will be annotated cubic feet or cubic metre.

The OP has a smart gas meter, it will be metric and measure cubic metres

mark_c832

QrizB said:

mark_c832 said:

viva1 said:

mark_c832 said:

I could tell that British gas had it as an imperial meter as the multiple of units to KWhr was 39, for a metric metre this multiple would be about 10-11

Actually the multiplier for an imperial meter would be about 31-32 and not 39, but for a metric meter it will indeed be about 11 or thereabouts - the exact figure would of course depend on the calorific value of the gas at the time.

Thanks viva1, I've just checked my British Gas bill and it has the calorific value of 39 for each unit of usage. So looks like BG are overcharging on their billing.

 You're confusing two different factors.

The calorific value is the number of MJ in a cubic metre of gas.

You then need to do some further calculations to work out the number of kWh in 100 cubic feet.

These calculations will be detailed on your bill but typically work out as between 31 and 32.

Thanks QrizB,

On my British Gas bill there is no indication how gas units (as recorded by the gas meter) are converted to KWhrs!

I was charged for 1693.03 KWHr for using '54 gas units at 39.0 calorific value'.

If you then do the maths 1693.03/54 you do indeed get a conversion multiple of 31.35

Gas bills should be clearer and less confusing.

The bottom line is I have been overcharged for an error whose cause is unknown as the smart meter installer, SMS, has confirmed that the data in the national meter database is correct in that it knows I have a metric meter not an imperial one.

QrizB

The two calculations, for metric or imperial meters, are given in this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6339280/missing-2-83-in-gas-bill

The volume measured by the meter is multiplied by the calorific value (about 39, but it varies) and by a further factor of 1.02264 (and then only if it's an imperial meter by a further 2.83) and finally divided by 3.6.

For your metric smart meter:

54 X 39 X 1.02264 / 3.6 = 598 kWh

This would normally be printed on your bill somewhere.

gefnew

Something like this.

* Your energy usage is calculated from your gas

consumption using a standard industry formula:

Units Consumed (Cubic Metres)

× Volume Correction (for temperature & pressure)

× Calorific Value (energy in each m3 of gas)

÷ 3.6 (convert from joules)

>> Usage (in kWh)

For you:

125.0 × 1.02264 × 40.0† ÷ 3.6 = 1420.3 Kwh

† Average calorific value shown to one decimal place