Data Energy do not decide the cost of your tariff; however, we may be involved in the process of calculating this. Your tariff is ultimately confirmed and agreed by the Building Owner or the Managing Agent for the development.
The tariff is usually set for a 12-month period and reviewed/recalculated thereafter. Please refer to the letter or tariff card issued to you when your rates were last changed for more details. You can also view the current applicable tariff via your Customer Portal account. If you haven’t created an account yet, please refer to How do I create a Customer Portal account? article.
Generally, a tariff will consist of three charges, unless agreed otherwise with the Building Owner or Managing Agent:
1. Unit Rate –
The unit rate is based on your individual consumption, generally measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). The kWh’s consumed are multiplied by the unit rate to produce the total chargeable amount.
The unit rate typically includes (in most but not all cases, depending on the utility type and how the energy is generated in your building):
- The actual cost of energy used at the main incoming energy supply.
- Boiler efficiency (for heat tariffs) – it's impossible for a boiler to operate at 100% efficiency, therefore it’s inevitable that some heat is lost in the production process, which needs to be accounted for. (Alternative generation technologies, such as heat pumps, biomass, and energy from waste, follow a similar principle.)
- Heat loss during transmission (for heat tariffs) – as heat is circulated around the primary network, the temperature will drop, despite the insulation provided. These are unavoidable and are typical for all heat networks. Please note, Data Energy is not responsible for the maintenance or performance of the network.
- VAT - set at 5% for residential utilities, VAT is added to the variable charge to account for the energy used at the main incoming supply. VAT is already applied to the unit rate stated on your bill.
2. Standing Charge –
This is a daily charge that relates to the fixed costs associated with running the communal network. This will differ depending on what the Building Owner or Managing Agent chooses to recover, but could typically include:
- Main energy meter standing charge
- HIU maintenance
- Meter replacement costs
- Energy centre maintenance
- Applicable VAT
The number of days you have been billed for is multiplied by the standing charge to produce the total chargeable amount.
3. Admin Fee -
The admin charge is a fixed daily rate that covers Data Energy’s metering and billing fees and our provision of Customer Care for residents. The number of days you have been billed for is multiplied by the admin fee to produce the total chargeable amount. This may also include costs for data collection and annual tariff reviews.
The admin fee may include:
- Data collection fees
- Quarterly/monthly billing statement (Please note that monthly billing sites incur a higher admin fee)
- Payment collection via Direct Debit, BACS, credit card
- Collected funds placed in stand-alone bank account
- Debt management services
- Monthly reconciliation reports followed by payment directly to a bank account defined by the Managing Agent
- Team of Customer Care advisers who can be contacted via telephone or email via our ticket system
- Access to the Customer Portal, where you can make payments, view copy bills, manage your energy consumption, and view payment history
- Tariff review
- Client portal access – for the Managing Agent
As a 3rd Party Metering and Billing Agent, we reserve the right to review and amend the administration charges on a regular basis, in line with the tariff changes communicated to the residents.