Glossary
The words on your bill.
Every term below appears on a UK energy bill, usually without explanation. Each one has its own link, so you can send someone straight to the definition.
Nothing here is jargon for its own sake.
These words exist because the things they describe are real and have to be named. The problem is that bills use them without ever saying what they mean, which leaves you holding a document you cannot check.
Definitions
- MPANMeter Point Administration Number
- The 21-digit number identifying your electricity supply point. It belongs to the property, not to you, and it does not change when you switch supplier.
- MPRNMeter Point Reference Number
- The same idea for gas. If you have both fuels you have both numbers, and they are unrelated to each other.
- MSNMeter Serial Number
- Printed on the physical meter. It is how you confirm that the bill relates to the meter actually installed at your property.
- Calorific valueMeasured in megajoules per cubic metre
- How much energy is in the gas you were supplied. It varies by region and by billing period, so the figure that applied to your bill is printed on it.
- Volume correction factorCurrently 1.02264 across Great Britain
- Corrects the measured gas volume for temperature and pressure, so a cubic metre in January and a cubic metre in July are billed consistently.
- Standing chargePence per day
- A fixed daily amount you pay whether you use any energy or not. It covers network and metering costs, and it differs by region.
- Estimated readingMarked on the bill, usually as E
- A figure your supplier has guessed from your past usage, because they had no actual reading. It is the single most common reason a bill is wrong.
- Back-billingA 12-month limit
- Where the supplier is at fault, they cannot charge you for energy used more than 12 months ago, however long the account has gone unbilled.
Still not sure what you are looking at.
Send us the bill and we will go through it with you. A first review costs nothing.