Electricity Profile Classes–What are they and How do I know mine?

The majority of household consumers come under this Class. It is typically a low usage Class and so Home Businesses in this group will not usually need to switch to a business unrestricted plan. However, in some cases this may be beneficial and offer better price deals.

These are home consumers with an Economy 7 Meter installed. This is known as the ‘differential tariff’ and is put in place to help smaller energy users save money between Peak and Off-Peak times.

The meter calculates usage separately between Day and Night hours and you will typically be offered an average day rate along with a lower night rate to help save money during these hours. This is especially cost effective for those with appliances running through the night. To be on one of these plans the consumer would need to sign up to Economy 7 and have that specific meter installed.

This Class is typically for Smaller / micro-business users with a lower electricity usage. There is usually a Standard Single Charge per kWh which can be best for those who have a small use with little variation between times as suppliers can offer their single lowest kWh rate.

As with Class 02 these users have an economy 7 meter installed however on a Business / Commercial plan rather than domestic. Again, this Class offers separate Day and Night rates in order to help Businesses reduce the costs for their electricity usage during Off – Peak hours as well.

These Classes fall under Non-Domestic Maximum Demand users. These are typically High electricity users and means that the meter has the ability to measure peak demand for a certain period. Each Class can be categorised by its Peak Load Factor (LF). The LF is the total kWh usage from a given period divided by the product of the maximum demand in kilowatts (kW) and the number of hours in the period. Essentially this shows the average use (kWh) percentage compared to what the maximum use could be for this time. Previously these were on an Advanced Non-Half Hourly supply. However as mentioned above as part of the P272 they will now have to be switched to a Half Hourly supply also. Here’s the breakdown:

Class 00 have always been and still are under Maximum Demand Half Hourly with a peak load use over 100 kW. This means annually the consumption will be 100,000 kWh or more. Half Hourly meters send an automatic reading every 30 minutes to the supplier making them much more accurate and eradicating the need to submit manual readings. In turn this can allow for better price deals when shopping for energy quotes as with more specific readings comes better suited contracts.

If you feel that the current electricity profile class you are in doesn’t fit your energy usage and you may benefit from a different class, you will need to contact your current electricity supplier.