Help & Advice
How do you calculate my monthly Fixed Direct Debit amount?
With a monthly fixed Direct Debit you can spread your payments across the year, which helps you to manage your energy payments more easily.
For existing customers your monthly payment amount will be calculated based on industry data and the regular meter readings you supply to us.
As a new customer your monthly payment amount will be calculated using either the annual consumption information you provide to us when you joined, or the industry average for the type of home you occupy and the rates for your chosen tariff.
Annual consumption
If you provided us with information about your annual consumption and energy spend we’ll use these figures to calculate your monthly amount using the equation below.
If your annual spend for both fuels = Gas: £941 + Electricity: £656.00 - total = £1597.00
The £1597 figure is then divided by 12 (months) to give you a monthly payment amount = £134.00 (we'll round up or down to the nearest £).
Industry average
If we’ve used the industry average to calculate your bill – details of which are included below – we do a similar calculation to estimate your monthly payment. Basically, we take the estimated average consumption of your home over a single year and the rates for your chosen tariff; divide it by 12 (months) and then base your monthly amount on the result of that equation.
New Customers
If you’ve recently joined First Utility, you may wonder how we forecast your usage for the year in order to calculate your monthly payment amount. Energy usage is forecasted based on a number of factors including the information provided on sign up, the readings obtained from your previous supplier, average annual consumption, industry averages and weather data for the type of home and tariff.
If you joined First Utility after receiving a quote from a switching site or our website, after reassessment your monthly payment amount could change. When you register on a switching site or our website, the information you provide will be passed through to our systems and your payments calculated. As your registration progresses through the first 90 days, more accurate data from the industry and your old supplier becomes available to us.
I’m worried about paying my bill
If you have concerns about paying your energy bill a member of our Credit Control team will be happy to discuss payment options with you. Contact us here
Further information about how we calculate your monthly amount.
Industry averages
If we’ve calculated your monthly amount using industry averages we’ll use what’s known as an EAC (Estimated Annual Consumption) for electricity and an AQ (Annualised Quantity) and ALP (Annualised Load Profile) for gas.
Estimated Annual Consumption
An EAC calculation is based on figures held on a centralised industry database updated by suppliers that relate to the electricity your home has used over the last year and is estimated at kiloWatt hours (kWh). A typical EAC for an average UK home is 3300kWh per year.
The calculation also takes into account the ‘seasonality change’, or ‘Profile Coefficients’ as the industry calls them. These adjust estimated consumption to take into account how much electricity you use at different times of the year.
For example, an average customer uses 6.38% of their EAC in June and 10.76% of their EAC in December. So, when estimating your consumption for June we would take your EAC of 3300kWh, apply the coefficient of 6.38% and charge you for 210.54kWh of electricity.
Please bear in mind that there are two different profile coefficients for domestic customers and the example above uses the most common domestic profile coefficient.
Annualised Quantity
Similar principles are used for calculating your annual gas usage. The AQ (Annualised Quantity) is also held on a centralised industry database that’s updated by suppliers. A typical domestic AQ is 20,500 kWh.
Another factor to bear in mind is the ALP (Annualised Load Profile). In a similar way to electricity, your gas usage is also adjusted for seasonality, or to take into account the amount of gas you use at different times of the year. For example, an average customer uses 3.17% of their ALP in June and 14.38% in December. So, when estimating your consumption for June we would take your AQ of 20,500kWh, apply the ALP of 3.17% and charge you for 649.85kWh of gas.