“How is my electricity billed?”, we hear you ask month after month. At first, your energy bill can seem like a complex maze full of numbers that just don’t add up. However, mastering the content of your bill actually isn’t too hard at all. Here we explain how we measure your energy usage, how we apply your cost of energy, information regarding supply and demand charges and what to do if something still doesn’t add up.
Units of energy
Your electricity is billed in kilo-watt hours and is often represent like this- kWh. In order to calculate the total kilo-watt hour of any particular device, simply multiply the appliance wattage by the number of hours used and then divide by 1000. For example, a fridge might be 1000 watts and run for 24 hours a day, therefore the kWh associated to that fridge will be 1000 x 24 / 1000 = 24 kWh.
Cost of energy usage
In order to calculate your cost of energy, take your kilo-watt hours and times it by your price per kWh. Taking the example of the fridge above and assuming you are charged 20 cents per kWh, the cost to run that fridge for the day is 24 x 0.20 = $4.80.
How are my rates calculated?
The cost of your electricity usage is dependent on a number of factors. These include, but are not limited to:
- What state of Australia you live in (and sometimes suburb)
- How much electricity you use
- The time of the year (winter vs summer rates)
- The time of the day (if you have peak vs off-peak rates for example
- Your network tariff code (this is the tariff that is allocated by your local distributor)
What is my supply charge?
A supply charge (also sometimes called a service to property charge) is a fixed rate that is applied to your bill. This covers the daily cost to supply electricity to your property. The opposite to usage charges, your supply charge is not dependent on how much electricity you use.
What is a demand charge?
Your energy distributor may or may not also charge you a demand charge. A demand charge measures the maximum amount of electricity used within a certain period and then charges you at that peak amount each day for a billing period. More information about demand charges can be found here. If your distributor has a demand charge, you can lower the cost by spreading out the use of appliances throughout the day, as opposed to running them all at once. This will lower your electricity ‘demand’ and thus your demand charge. Please note that this charge is not set or altered by Next Business Energy. It is a flow-through charge set by your energy distributor. Your distributor information can be found on the top, right hand side of your monthly bill.
What if I still don’t understand?
If you receive your bill and you don’t believe it is accurate, or there are sections of the bill that you do not fully understand, please feel free to contract Next Business Energy during business hours. Our phone number is 1300 46 6398 or feel free to email us at info@nextbusinessenergy.com.au.