Your gas bill, explained

The invoice number, unique to this bill. Quote it if you have a query about this specific invoice.

The date we issued the bill — always the last day of the month of supply. Your payment date is 21 days later.

Your Go Power account reference. This is the one to have handy whenever you phone or email us.

Supply Meter Point number. The unique number for the gas connection at your premises — it belongs to the property, not to you.

The serial number printed on the meter itself. Use it to check you are reading the right meter if the building has more than one.

Your End User Category, set by the network operator from your annual consumption. It decides which published network tariff applies. “Firm” means a standard, non-interruptible supply.

The days this bill covers. We bill monthly in arrears, so this bill is for gas you used in April, issued at the end of April.

Where the gas was delivered. It can differ from the address the bill is posted to — useful if a head office pays for several sites.

Where your meter stood at the start of the period — always the closing read from your last bill, so nothing is ever counted twice or missed.

Where your meter stood at the end of the period. The letter in brackets tells you the source: (A) an actual read, (CR) a read you sent us, (E) an estimate. This sample shows an estimated closing read, which is exactly what a month without a meter read looks like.

Closing read minus opening read: 980 − 388 = 592 m³. This is the only measured number on your bill. Everything else is derived from it.

Your cubic metres converted to energy: 592 × 11.339259 = 6,713 kWh. Every charge below is this figure multiplied by a rate.

How much energy was in the gas flowing through your area this month, measured by the network operator. Gas is not identical everywhere, so this moves slightly month to month.

An adjustment for temperature and pressure at your meter, so a cubic metre measured at your premises is comparable with one measured anywhere else.

A further standard correction applied to your meter point by the network operator.

The constant that converts megajoules into kilowatt hours. It is always 3.6 — physics, not policy.

All of the above combined into one number: (Calorific Value × Correction Factor × Fixed Factor) ÷ 3.6 = 11.339259. Multiply your cubic metres by this to get kWh.

Our Supplier Management Fee — the one and only charge Go Power takes for supplying you. Fixed for your whole contract term. 6,713 kWh × £0.0200 = £134.26.

The gas itself, priced against the Heren Day-Ahead UK Gas Index for the days in this period. This is the line that moves most from month to month. 6,713 kWh × £0.038931 = £261.35.

A daily network charge for reserving capacity at your meter point — the pipe kept live, the meter registered, the emergency service on call. Based on your capacity figure and the number of days, not on how much gas you burned. You pay it even in a month with no usage. Total for the period: £65.32.

The network’s charge for physically transporting the gas you actually used. Purely usage-based — no usage, no charge. 6,713 kWh × £0.025349 = £170.16.

A UK Government levy on business energy use, set by HM Revenue & Customs and charged per kWh. On this bill it is 0.801p per kWh. Relief is automatic where your usage falls under HMRC’s de minimis threshold or the gas is used for a qualifying purpose — in which case the line does not appear at all. 6,713 kWh × £0.00801 = £53.77.

Every charge line above, added together, before VAT: £684.86.

VAT on the sub total. Business gas is charged at the standard 20% rate, as shown here. A reduced 5% rate — with automatic Climate Change Levy relief — applies instead to low-usage and qualifying supplies. HMRC sets which applies, not Go Power.

Sub total plus VAT — what this month’s gas cost you: £821.83.

When your current supply agreement finishes. We print it on every bill so it never sneaks up on you.

A single blended rate for the month: everything except CCL and VAT, divided by the kWh you used. On this sample that is 9.401 p/kWh. The easiest number for comparing one month against another.

Anything still outstanding from earlier bills. If your Direct Debit is running normally this will be zero.

This month’s total, carried down from the charges block above.

Previous balance plus this period’s charges. This is the figure that will be collected.

Your rolling 12-month consumption, or since you joined us if that is less. Useful for budgeting and for getting comparable quotes at renewal.

Your payment date — 21 days after the end of the month of supply. Taken by Direct Debit, so you need do nothing.