Understanding your commercial electricity bill

UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMMERCIAL ELECTRICITY BILL

UNDERSTANDING YOUR BILL www.flogas.ie/business Contact: 041 214 9500

April 2022

UNDERSTANDING YOUR

COMMERCIAL ELECTRICITY BILL FRONT OF BILL

DG

MPRN

PROFILE

DG stands for DUoS Group.

DUoS in turn stands for Distribution Use of System.

Meter Point Reference Number this is a unique identifier for all suppliers / ESBN

5 - this is the profile used by networks to determine the wholesale cost to the supplier

MCC CODE Meter Configuration Code, this is a code used to describe the type of meter you have MCC1-24hr, MCC2 Day/ Night, MCC3 Day & Night Storage

ACCOUNT NUMBER Unique Flogas reference

MIC Max import capacity 15 kVA in this case

UNDERSTANDING YOUR

COMMERCIAL ELECTRICITY BILL REAR OF BILL

MULTIPLIER

CONSUMPTION BY METER

This is based on the physical meter, some meters give measurement in kWhs so the multiplier is 1, others have a multiplier of 11 as they record “units” not kWh. The meter is the property of Networks, but regardless of multiplier the consumption in kWhs doesn’t change

Readings can be Actual, Customer or Estimate, if you are seeing a lot of Estimated reads its better to submit a read to us

UNIT RATES Unit rates are the core energy rate agreed to, or the standard variable rates. These rates include pass though charges which may change annually in October when the CRU issues their notification on passthrough costs

STANDING CHARGES Standing charges are agreed at sign-up/renewal, however they also include an element of pass through charges and may change each October depending on pass through charges decided by the CRU

PSO LEVY Regulated. This is announced once a year in September, and doesn’t change otherwise

ISEM TRADING CHARGE Not Regulated. This is a variable charge applied

by Flogas and is reviewed monthly.

ELECTRICITY TAX Regulated. This tends to be reviewed once a year at budget time but can change due to goverment regulation

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

COMMERCIAL ELECTRICITY BILL ISEM Trading Charge •

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Flogas introduced an ISEM charge for all commercial (including Domestic Commercial) customers in 2018 when the Integrated Single Electricity Market was introduced. Some other energy suppliers also introduced separate ISEM charges at the time, whereas some suppliers included it in the calculation of their unit rate or standing charges.

The Flogas ISEM charge is not a regulated or “pass-through” charge, it was introduced to cover anticipated additional costs associated with the process of purchasing electricity under the new market rules. The charge has been detailed on our commercial rate-cards and commercial bills since 2018.

Flogas reviews this charge monthly. Since the summer of 2021 there have been some significant disruptions to the cost of electricity on the Irish wholesale market, and cost increases that are not fully explained by the wholesale cost of gas on global energy markets.

Flogas believes this has been in part due to the functioning of the Integrated Single Electricity Market, and also the impact of Brexit which has removed some of the ability to trade with Britain in the day ahead electricity market.

The uncertainty and risk associated with supplying commercial electricity has increased significantly and in response Flogas has increased the ISEM charge effectively introducing a variable element to pricing to offset the additional cost.

Therefore the total price of commercial electricity from Flogas is the unit rate plus the ISEM charge. This is comparable and competitive with the total energy rates of other suppliers.

Flogas remains hopeful that a level of certainty returns to the ISEM and as this happens they will review the ISEM charge for all customers accordingly.

MIC Codes

Maximum Import Capacity (MIC) is the maximum electricity demand level that can be catered for by your connection to the distribution network. MIC is stated in kilovoltamps (kVAs) but this value is in most cases, similar to the number of kilowatts that may be catered for by the connection. ESB Networks makes connections that provide for many different levels of electricity usage. When applying for a new connection, you need to specify the maximum electricity demand level you require. This level is then written into the connection agreement as the MIC. ESBN then design their network to provide a connection method in accordance with the agreed MIC. • •

If the MIC is too high, you will be paying for more capacity than you need.

If the MIC is too low, your equipment may not operate correctly and you may incur an excess capacity charge.

If you recently added electrical equipment that requires extra power, your current MIC may no longer be sufficient for your needs, and an increase in MIC may be required.

Likewise, if you removed some electrical equipment from your commercial premises, your current MIC level will need to be reviewed. Customers apply directly to ESBN to make any change in the MIC.

PSO Levy

The Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy is imposed by the Government on all final electricity customers, and it is designed to recover the additional costs associated with electricity from specified sources of generation, including sustainable, renewable and indigenous sources

April 2022