Variations in standing charges.

yorlan1

Please could someone explain why the standing charge for gas is the same for all regions yet for electric you pay 61.82ppd in North Wales but only 38.18ppd in London

MattMattMattUK

yorlan1 said:

Please could someone explain why the standing charge for gas is the same for all regions yet for electric you pay 61.82ppd in North Wales but only 38.18ppd in London

For electricity the standing charge reflects the cost across the region it is for. Cost per dwelling in London is lower as it requires far less cable per dwelling due to increased density, there are not substations that only serve a few homes, terrain is easy to route over/through etc. 

When the system was set up for gas it was decided to average the costs over the whole country rather than regionally. 

dunstonh

The electric grids were largely built to be regional.  Generation and supply was mostly regional.   Gas was not.

35har1old

MattMattMattUK said:

yorlan1 said:

Please could someone explain why the standing charge for gas is the same for all regions yet for electric you pay 61.82ppd in North Wales but only 38.18ppd in London

For electricity the standing charge reflects the cost across the region it is for. Cost per dwelling in London is lower as it requires far less cable per dwelling due to increased density, there are not substations that only serve a few homes, terrain is easy to route over/through etc. 

When the system was set up for gas it was decided to average the costs over the whole country rather than regionally. 

Some suppliers  in NI don't have a standing chargege

Scot_39

A couple in uk don't either as an explicit item.

See the mse article on standing charges.

Doesn't mean they don't charge it in other ways - as thread on Utilita for instance covers in their case.

Qyburn

Also the electricity system covers virtually everywhere, whereas gas only covers urban or densely populated areas. So there's bound to be more variation in electricity costs per user.

Ectophile

When I got my first flat, gas always came from British Gas, wherever you lived.  But electricity came from the local electricity board (Seeboard in my case).  So there was only one gas supplier, but lots of regional electricity suppliers, who set their own standing charges.

So it's a historical thing.

Gerry1

Ectophile said:

When I got my first flat, gas always came from British Gas, wherever you lived.  But electricity came from the local electricity board (Seeboard in my case).  So there was only one gas supplier, but lots of regional electricity suppliers, who set their own standing charges.

So it's a historical thing.

12 Area Gas Boards were established by the terms of the 1948 Gas Act.
The British Gas Corporation was formed on 1 January 1973 under the terms of the 1972 Gas Act. Individual Gas Boards were dissolved e.g. the South Eastern Gas Board (SEGB) became the South Eastern Region of the Corporation. The former management committees were replaced.
After privatisation, in 1986, SEGas continued as a Region until 1994 when all the regions were abolished and British Gas plc reorganised on a functional basis.
Source: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/ef5897f7-0377-4a48-952d-29751225ca0c

35har1old

Qyburn said:

Also the electricity system covers virtually everywhere, whereas gas only covers urban or densely populated areas. So there's bound to be more variation in electricity costs per user.

The suppliers in N.Ireland that have a
Standing charge cover the whole area so it makes no difference  if you live in urban or rural settings.
What is the average cost per 3200kw per year?

QrizB

35har1old said:

What is the average cost per 3200kw per year?

In GB?

27.35p/kWh plus 53.36p/day, so £875 for electricity plus £195 standing charge. Total £1070.