Businesses are charged an excess penalty rate for exceeding their Agreed Supply Capacity. This penalty rate is generally three times the standard rate.
The capacity review service offered by ECA Business Energy will serve to avoid these penalty rates and act as a cost saving measure for your business.
The amount of capacity reserved on the power network for your use at a point in time (Authorised Supply Capacity) is measured in KVA. All electricity supplies have a KVA level allocated to them, but you only pay for this service, if you have a Half Hourly metered site.
Half hourly meters are typically installed at larger business sites with a high energy consumption, such as factories. A Half Hourly meter is compulsory if your maximum demand (the highest kW value in any half-hour period during the day) exceeds 100 kW, and optional between 70 kW and 100 kW.
Until April 1st 2017, only meters with a profile class of 00 were considered Half Hourly meters. With the completion of the new Ofgem P272 legislation, the profile class of all other maximum demand meters (formerly classed 05-08) will have been updated to 00 set up to take half-hourly readings. This also means that those sites will now have KVA charges added to their bills.
It is important that your KVA is set at the correct level so you don’t pay for capacity you don’t need. If you have multiple sites with potentially the wrong KVA level, the additional costs can quickly accumulate.
The suggested KVA level is just above your maximum demand.
Even if you have had a Half Hourly meter for some time, it makes sense to review your KVA level. By reviewing your demand over the last 12 months and discussing any future expansion or consolidation plans you might have, we can establish not only your current demand but also plan for any future demand you could develop.
In most cases a reduction will avoid unnecessary costs.
Our specialist team will independently assess your demand, to identify both historic and future savings.
Your business could receive refunds off future energy bills.
We have recovered £100,000’s on behalf of our clients including:
- £70,428 on behalf of a London boutique retailer
- £63,429 on behalf of a Premiership football team
- £78,903 on behalf of a construction company
Our approach
We will review your whole portfolio and give you a breakdown of each site’s consumption patterns, supply capacities and potential savings, together in an easy to understand report.
We will then take care of all the paperwork with the relevant suppliers and distribution network operators.
Contact our team of business energy specialists for a friendly chat »