Author: James Longley
Everything you need to know about third party costs
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Non Commodity costs
Over recent years non-commodity costs such as distribution and transmission charges, alongside a growing number and size of Government levies, have markedly changed the make up of a customer bill. In 2009, power made up 77% of the bill, with 18% being for Use of Systems and 5% for Government schemes.
Looking at this coming year the make up is quite different, 44% for the power, 28% for Use of Systems and 28% for Government schemes. This can be explained by the growing cost of the Renewable Obligation and Feed-In Tariff costs due to large installation levels since the scheme began in 2010. In addition, the introduction of the Capacity Market and CfD under EMR in 2014 will begin to grow substantially from this year.
What are these costs?
• TNUoS (Transmission Network Use of Systems) – This charge covers the cost of installing and maintaining the transmission system. This cost is increasing due to the upgrade of networks to accommodate renewable generation and to replace aging infrastructure. The average increase to the customer for 2016/17 was 16%.
• DUos (Distribution Use of System) – This charge is paid to the Distribution Network Operator that works in the area where the meter is located. This charge is expected to increase up to 8.5% by 2018/19 depending on the area of the country.
• BSUoS (Balancing Services Use of System) – Balancing the system and making sure there is enough generation to cover demand is becoming increasingly more difficult and costly, particularly in times of peak demand and when unreliable renewable generation is low.
Other terms
• CCL (Climate Change Levy) – This tax was put in place to encourage a reduction in carbon emissions. Buyers of renewable energy were exempt from this tax until 2015 when the Government’s budget made the change to apply this charge to all energy users. Every April this charge is reviewed and increases by a small amount, however in 2019 this charge will increase by 46%
• Renewable Obligation – This is the main framework to incentivise construction of large scale renewable electricity generation. Although this scheme is closing to new entrants this year, RO will still be a significant charge on customers’ bills for several more years.
• Feed in Tariff (FiT)- This charge is paid to smaller generators of low carbon and renewable power. These costs are expected to rise over 10% in 2016/17.
• BEIS (Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) – Replacement of the Department of Energy and Climate change (DEC).
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Case studies
We’re dedicated to helping businesses like yours save more on energy. That’s why we’ve put together a selection of case studies showcasing exactly what we have achieved for company’s similar to yours.
Thomson Hayes
2016
Year Joined
£2,000
Total Savings
Thomson Hayes retail has been established for 30 years and specialises in the design and manufacture of high quality furniture, exhibition stands, museum and store fit outs.
Cablecraft Limited
2017
Year Joined
£170,000
Total Savings
Utility Bidder saves thousands of pounds on energy expenditure for Midlands business. Cable craft have been supplying cable identification, termination and management products throughout the world for over 20 years servicing a diverse range of industries.
Sharda Care
2014
Year Joined
£20,000
Total Savings
Sharda Care are contacted frequently by companies within the energy industry, but the desire to work with UB Corporate was motivated by our bill validation service (and that they hadn’t checked their VAT). Our team have an experienced background in working with businesses of this size and will instinctively scrutinise all utilities to investigate potential savings.
Robert Jones
2019
Year Joined
£150
Total Savings
Rob says that thanks to the competitive rates secured by Utility Bidder in his studio, it would actually be cheaper to live there than at home! “We pay about £30 a month for gas during the winter and around £25 a month for electricity – and that’s despite having a lot of energy guzzling equipment such as studio lights and fan heaters. Our energy bills at home are far more expensive!”
HTC
2020
Year Joined
£14000
Total Savings
Founded in 2009, with a range of industry accolades to our name, Hayri recognised that Utility Bidder was a well-established and growing business and our five star Trustpilot reviews along with our size and longevity ensured HTC Europe had peace of mind.
“I was impressed with Utility Bidder from the start,” said Hayri. “Nothing was too much trouble for my account manager Rebecca Lau. Professionals recognise fellow professionals and it’s true that one doesn’t buy from a company, one buys from a person and Rebecca is a credit to Utility Bidder.
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