Can't cancel my contract but all I will be paying is standing charge

KnitWitch

I am a member of a small volunteer organisation and we rent a High Street premises which we have not opened since March for various reasons. In that time we have used 1 unit of electricity at 25.66p. The standing charge (business rate) is 92.73p per day.
I asked if I could cancel my account with immediate effect and got this response:
"Thank you for your email.
Please note we are unable to cancel your account as the meter is on site.
The only way to cancel the account is if there is change of tenancy or supplier.
Also, you can pay to have the meter removed.
Thank you."
Surely that cannot be right! And what does it mean that they can't cancel because the meter is on site - where else would it be??
This is Good Energy. Ha! Bad Energy as far as I am concerned.

MP1995

This is likely your misunderstanding of what contract you are in and exactly what you are asking of whom.

Perhaps give a step by step explanation of who you contacged and what you said.

You may not be able to cancel anything if you are still in a contract and no one gets away paying no standing charge...(correction maybe one supplier for domestic use only)

MeteredOut

They are correct.

You pay the standing charge for the ability to use the energy supply, whether you actually consume any units or not. The only way to stop that is to have the meter removed (at your cost), or find an alternate supplier with a zero SC (not many about).

Since this is a business account, you may also have cancellation penalties if you do want to move to another supplier. The T&Cs will explain those.

Consumer protection for utility bills do not (unfortunately) apply to business accounts.

DullGreyGuy

KnitWitch said:

I am a member of a small volunteer organisation and we rent a High Street premises which we have not opened since March for various reasons. In that time we have used 1 unit of electricity at 25.66p. The standing charge (business rate) is 92.73p per day.
I asked if I could cancel my account with immediate effect and got this response:
"Thank you for your email.
Please note we are unable to cancel your account as the meter is on site.
The only way to cancel the account is if there is change of tenancy or supplier.
Also, you can pay to have the meter removed.
Thank you."
Surely that cannot be right! And what does it mean that they can't cancel because the meter is on site - where else would it be??
This is Good Energy. Ha! Bad Energy as far as I am concerned.

The only way not to pay the standing charge is to have the supply disconnected which is done by removal of the meter which you'd have to pay the cost for and may also be liable for the reconnection fee when you give up the premises (and certainly if you reopen it)

BarelySentientAI

You have a supply, whether or not you are using it at the moment.

You are liable to pay for that supply.

Get the supply removed (which could cost hundreds of pounds) and then you might (depending on the terms of your commercial contract) be able to cancel.

You'd then need to pay for a new connection if you wanted supply again in the future, and that could cost hundreds of pounds again.

Robin9

As you are no longer using the premises are you able to cancel the rental agreement -  then the supply can revert to the landlord.

Mobtr

KnitWitch said:

I am a member of a small volunteer organisation and we rent a High Street premises which we have not opened since March for various reasons. In that time we have used 1 unit of electricity at 25.66p. The standing charge (business rate) is 92.73p per day.
I asked if I could cancel my account with immediate effect and got this response:
"Thank you for your email.
Please note we are unable to cancel your account as the meter is on site.
The only way to cancel the account is if there is change of tenancy or supplier.
Also, you can pay to have the meter removed.
Thank you."
Surely that cannot be right! And what does it mean that they can't cancel because the meter is on site - where else would it be??
This is Good Energy. Ha! Bad Energy as far as I am concerned.

The only way you can cancel your contract is if you give up the premises & someone else such as the landlord or another tenant takes over or have the meter removed. 

The meter is on site and available to use and you are responsible for it until one of the 2 above scenarios apply. 

What makes you think you can rent a premise but not have to pay for the utilities? 

LinLui

Slightly different approach here. 

How is this "your" account? If it's in the name of the organisation,  what is the legal status of the organisation? Why is this "your" problem? 

KnitWitch

Thank you all for your responses. They have been very helpful and I have a few courses of action I can take,

Reed_Richards

I would have thought that for a business account the rates you are being charged are very reasonable.  If you were a domestic customer you would be paying more than 20p per unit with a standing charge over 55p per day and there is only one domestic supplier that might waive the standing charge if you don't use any electricity.

wrf12345

Octopus have a business tariff with zero s/c but not a domestic one