The cost of your electricity is the combination of the wholesale price plus a range of non-energy factors or charges, no matter who your supplier is. From last year to this, we’ve seen significant variance in these charges. Your location, which meter type & size you have and your usage or pattern of power use have all affected whether the unit rates and standing charges in your new AF electricity contract have increased, decreased or are similar to your previous contract.
We explain the key elements which contribute to the final costs for your electricity bill and why they may differ between sites.
We bought wholesale electricity for your new AF electricity contract for 2 p/kWh lower than your previous contract (ended 31st March ’25).
We achieved this by buying, when market conditions were favourable, on several occasions between August ’24 and January ’25.
Whether your charges are up or down largely depends on your local Distribution Network Operator (DNO) and type and size of your electricity supply.
These cover DNO’s cost of maintaining and upgrading electricity network infrastructure. They are passed to your supplier to recover from you, the energy bill payer.
These are mostly less for this year due to over-recovery by DNO in previous year.
A few locations / meter types have seen increases this year due to under-recovery last year.
This year sees expected annual increases and changes in usage profiles (see below) for other distribution costs.
These charges are passed by DNO to suppliers to recover from you, the energy bill payer.
Comparing this year’s costs to last, Members with some meter types see an increase in unit rates whilst others see a decrease, with no consistency across the country or within DNO.
As you’d expect, unit rates are higher for electricity used during peak periods of day. Each DNO sets profiles for this usage pattern by meter type and size.
Applies to both Non-Half Hourly and Half Hourly supplies, with Half Hourly unit rates reflecting your profiled Half Hourly data.
Apply only to Half Hourly supplies (where you have a chargeable agreed capacity in place with your network provider).
We’re seeing significant increases in cost of capacity, in effect ‘pre-booking’ the maximum peak demand of electricity you potentially could use, as some power networks are becoming overcrowded.
We recommend you check you’ve sufficient capacity agreed to meet your usual peak demand plus seasonal high’s if you have them so you can draw this amount of power from the grid when needed.
Costs of national renewable projects (and other government recovery mechanisms when applicable) are passed on to you, the energy bill payer, and increase each year.
We anticipate these will continue to rise in coming years.
If you have questions or queries about your new AF electricity contract, get in touch with you AF Energy team. We’re here to help.
