What your electricity bill will come to with your usage and your tariff, and what a kWh really costs you once everything is in.
Currency and number format for
Total bill
—
Total bill—
Energy charge—
Standing charge—
Electricity duty—
VAT—
Real cost per kWh—
Fixed share of the bill—
At that rate, per year—
How this was worked out
Indicative result. Prices and taxes are fields on the form because they change by country, by supplier and by month: copy them from your latest bill. What does not change is the structure of the bill, which is what this page works out. A time-of-use tariff needs consumption broken down by period.
An electricity bill has two parts and most people only look at one. The energy charge is what you use: kilowatt hours times their price. The standing charge is a daily rental for the capacity you have contracted, and it is paid even if the house sits empty all month. Duty goes on top of the two together, and VAT on top of all of it. That is why the real cost per kilowatt hour is always higher than the tariff price: at 0.15 a unit, an ordinary bill works out above 0.24 in real terms.
How to work it out by hand
Multiply consumption by the price per kWh: the energy charge
Multiply capacity by its price and by the days: the standing charge
Add the two and apply the electricity duty
Add any meter rental and apply VAT to the whole
What is worth knowing
The fixed part is what to look at when a bill seems high and usage is not. If the standing charge takes more than a third of the bill, the problem is not consumption but contracted capacity, and that is fixed by lowering it, not by switching lights off. The real cost per kWh is also the only honest basis for comparing two offers: a tariff with a cheap unit rate and an expensive standing charge can work out worse than one with a dearer unit rate. And if your tariff has time bands, this sum needs consumption split by band: an average price gives an estimate, not the bill.
Frequently asked questions
How is an electricity bill worked out?
Energy charge — usage times unit price — plus standing charge — capacity times price times days — with duty on the sum and VAT at the end.
What is the standing charge?
A daily rental for the capacity you have contracted. It is paid every day of the period even if you use nothing.
Why does a kWh cost more than my tariff says?
Because the tariff price is only the energy. With the standing charge and taxes included, the real cost per kWh is considerably higher.
How do I compare two electricity offers?
By the real cost per kWh with everything in, not by the unit price. A cheap unit rate with an expensive standing charge can work out worse.
Why is my bill high if I use little?
Most likely the standing charge. If it takes more than a third of the bill, what needs reviewing is the contracted capacity.
Does this work with a time-of-use tariff?
As an estimate with an average price, yes. For the exact figure you need consumption split by band, each at its own price.
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