How do British Gas Calculate Gas Use/Cost

pochase

Gerry1 said:

If dozy Ofgem were any good they would mandate that gas bills must clearly state whether the meter is believed to be Imperial or metric, to show and explain the formula used to convert the volume to kWh, and to advise the consumer how to check that their meter's classification is correct.

The number of people who have this problem seems to be low, but of course not everybody reports it on this forum, and I don't know how many people don't even realise they are paying to much.

But of course those who do not question it are often also those who will not check their bills. I think the new extreme costs are waking people up who have never bothered to look after their energy cost.

QrizB

peopleiknow1 said:

There is no formula on the BG bill showing how the have calculated costs ...

Every gas bill I've ever seen has included the calculation to convert the metered volume into kWh.

There a (rather old) BG bill here, with the calculation on Page 2:
https://www.myutilitygenius.co.uk/suppliers/british-gas/bill/

Does yours look like that?

peopleiknow1

Ok, checked my meter and yes it’s metric, big M3 on the front next to the dials….what a relief, we don’t owe British Gas another thousand pounds.

Thank you, everybody who as posted to help get us this far….now to fire off a complaint to BG to get this sorted. 

peopleiknow1

QrizB said:

peopleiknow1 said:

There is no formula on the BG bill showing how the have calculated costs ...

Every gas bill I've ever seen has included the calculation to convert the metered volume into kWh.

There a (rather old) BG bill here, with the calculation on Page 2:
https://www.myutilitygenius.co.uk/suppliers/british-gas/bill/

Does yours look like that?

I’ve studied the bill several times and can’t find any info on how the gas figure as been calculated.

Gerry1

QrizB said:

peopleiknow1 said:

There is no formula on the BG bill showing how the have calculated costs ...

Every gas bill I've ever seen has included the calculation to convert the metered volume into kWh.

There a (rather old) BG bill here, with the calculation on Page 2:
https://www.myutilitygenius.co.uk/suppliers/british-gas/bill/

Does yours look like that?

That's exactly what I thought, but looking back at a BG bill from last year it's now become very unhelpful.  They've removed the grey 'How do we calculate your gas cost?' panel, there's no mention of ft3 or m3, so unless you're an anorak you'd never even realise the possibility for overcharging.

peopleiknow1

peopleiknow1 said:

I’ve studied the bill several times and can’t find any info on how the gas figure as been calculated.

 Having though about it, I've come to the conclusion that BG not including the formula was a good thing.  Had they included it, I would have been likely to have checked their workings, come to the same result and assumed I had been charged correctly. 

 I was not aware there were imperial & metric meters out there. 

Gerry1

peopleiknow1 said:

peopleiknow1 said:

I’ve studied the bill several times and can’t find any info on how the gas figure as been calculated.

 Having though about it, I've come to the conclusion that BG not including the formula was a good thing.  Had they included it, I would have been likely to have checked their workings, come to the same result and assumed I had been charged correctly. 

 I was not aware there were imperial & metric meters out there. 

As previously noted, dozy Ofgem needs to wake up and take some effective action to tackle this problem.

brewerdave

OP- The other thing worth checking ,is that the meter serial number on the bill agrees with the actual meter.
Haven't had the issue with a gas meter but I've certainly had an issue with a new supplier picking up the serial number of an electric meter from "the National Database" which had been replaced 4 years previously !!

Gerry1

brewerdave said:

OP- The other thing worth checking ,is that the meter serial number on the bill agrees with the actual meter.
Haven't had the issue with a gas meter but I've certainly had an issue with a new supplier picking up the serial number of an electric meter from "the National Database" which had been replaced 4 years previously !!

The meter serial number on the bill may agree with the serial number on the meter that identifies as yours, but if that meter happens to be in a communal cupboard or meter room it won't detect the case where the wires are supplying someone else's flat !

Best to do the Meter Sanity Test to rule out such problems.

wild666

If you know your last reading, the one you should have taken on the last day that PE traded, then just take that reading from the present reading. If they kept you on the PE tariff until April then you will have to work out the usage and SC until the end of 31/3/22 then the price on the new rates from 1/4/22 these figures, inc. SC's will give you how much your bill should be. It will be slightly different for each part of the country but don't forget if you were in debt to PE this would be added to the bill.