One of the most common phone calls we receive is from business owners asking why their latest energy bill is much higher than they expected. The first thing most people assume is that the supplier has increased their prices. And sometimes that's true. But in our experience, it's often not the real reason — and jumping straight to a price comparison before understanding what's actually happened can mean you end up solving the wrong problem.
Before we even look at prices, we try to understand exactly why the bill has increased. That process starts with the meter reading, not the unit rate.
What We Check First
When a business contacts us about a high bill, the first three things we ask for are:
- The latest business energy bill
- A current meter reading, taken today
- Ideally, a photograph of the meter
There is very little point comparing prices until the usage has first been validated. If the bill is based on an inaccurate meter reading — whether too high or too low — then any price comparison you do will be based on the wrong consumption figure. You might switch supplier and still end up with the same problem.
The Most Common Reasons for a Sudden Increase
Most cases fall into one of the categories below. Some are straightforward to resolve; others need a bit more investigation.
Estimated bills
Most energy meters are not read every month. When a meter reader hasn't visited for a while — or when you haven't submitted a reading yourself — your supplier calculates your bill based on an estimate of what you've probably used. These estimates are based on your historical consumption and are often reasonable. But they can drift. If your business has grown, if you've added new equipment, or if the estimate was simply too low to begin with, the gap between what you've been billed and what you've actually used will widen over time. When an actual reading is eventually taken, the bill corrects that shortfall. The result can look alarming, but it's not a price increase — it's a correction.
Catch-up bills
A catch-up bill is what happens when a period of estimated billing is followed by an actual meter reading. The supplier recalculates your account based on real consumption and issues a bill for the difference. This is one of the most common reasons businesses call us convinced their supplier has put prices up. In reality, the energy was used months ago — it just wasn't billed at the time. The bill is correct; the timing is what feels wrong. If you've been receiving estimated bills for six months or more, a catch-up bill is a real possibility. The best way to avoid them is to submit regular meter readings — once a month is ideal.
Higher than normal usage
Sometimes the bill is high simply because more energy was used. A new piece of equipment, a change in working hours, a cold spell that meant the heating ran longer — any of these can push consumption up without anyone noticing at the time. It's worth comparing the kWh figure on your current bill with the same period last year. If consumption is genuinely higher, the question becomes why — and whether anything can be done about it.
Seasonal usage
Energy use varies with the seasons. Heating costs more in winter. Refrigeration and air conditioning cost more in summer. A bill that covers a colder or hotter period than the previous one will naturally be higher, even if your unit rate hasn't changed. This is particularly relevant for farms, food businesses, cold storage operators and hospitality businesses. If your bill covers a period that included an unusually cold snap or a prolonged hot spell, that alone may explain the increase.
Contract expiry
Fixed-rate energy contracts end. When they do, most suppliers move the account onto their out-of-contract rates — sometimes called Variable Business Rates or deemed rates. These are almost always significantly higher than the contracted rate you were previously paying. The transition can happen quietly. There's no dramatic notification, no red letter. Your supply continues uninterrupted, but the unit rate on your next bill is higher. If you haven't checked your contract end date recently, it's worth doing so now.
Variable Business Rates
Variable Business Rates (VBR) are what suppliers charge when there's no fixed contract in place. They're set by the supplier and can change at any time with relatively short notice. There's no cap on how high they can go, and there's no obligation on the supplier to offer you a competitive rate. Businesses on VBR typically pay 30–60% more per unit than they would on a well-timed fixed contract. If your contract has expired and you haven't arranged a new one, this is almost certainly what's happening.
Standing charge increases
The standing charge is the fixed daily fee your supplier charges for maintaining your connection. It applies every day regardless of how much energy you use. Standing charges can increase when a contract expires and you move onto out-of-contract rates. They can also increase if your supplier has revised their tariff structure. A standing charge increase won't show up as a change in your unit rate, but it will push the total bill up — particularly for businesses with lower consumption where the standing charge represents a larger proportion of the total cost.
Climate Change Levy
The Climate Change Levy (CCL) is a government environmental tax applied to business energy consumption. It's charged per kWh and appears as a separate line on your bill. The CCL rate is set by HMRC and changes annually — usually in April. If your bill covers a period that spans an April rate change, the CCL element will be higher than on previous bills. Some businesses qualify for an exemption or reduced rate — charities, certain energy-intensive industries, and businesses using qualifying renewable electricity. If you're paying the full CCL rate and you think you might qualify for a reduction, it's worth checking.
VAT
Most businesses pay VAT at 20% on their energy bills. However, some qualify for the reduced rate of 5% — charities using energy for non-business purposes, and businesses whose consumption falls below certain daily thresholds. The reduced rate is not applied automatically. If you've never submitted a VAT declaration to your supplier and you think you might qualify, you could have been overpaying for years. It's a straightforward thing to check.
Incorrect meter readings
Meter reading errors happen. A meter reader records the wrong number, a digit is transposed, or the reading is taken from the wrong meter entirely. Any of these can produce a bill that looks wildly wrong. If the reading on your bill doesn't match your meter, contact your supplier immediately and provide your own reading with photographic evidence. Keep a log of your readings — a monthly photograph with the date noted takes two minutes and can resolve a dispute in minutes rather than weeks.
Multiple electricity or gas supplies
Larger premises — farms, industrial sites, business parks — often have more than one electricity or gas supply, each with its own meter and its own contract. It's not unusual for one supply to be on a well-managed fixed contract while another has been quietly running on out-of-contract rates for years. If you have multiple supplies and you haven't reviewed all of them recently, the high bill may be coming from a supply that nobody has looked at for a long time.
Business expansion
If your business has grown — more staff, longer hours, new equipment, additional premises — your energy consumption will have grown with it. This is straightforward, but it's easy to overlook when you're focused on the business rather than the bills. If consumption has genuinely increased because the business is bigger, the question is whether your current contract and tariff structure still suit your usage profile. A larger business often has more buying power in the energy market than a smaller one.
One Thing That Catches Businesses Out
When businesses receive a high bill, the instinct is to compare unit rates. It feels like the logical thing to do — if the bill is higher, the price must have gone up.
From our experience, the first thing that should always be checked is whether the bill is based on accurate meter readings. A bill that looks expensive because of a catch-up from estimated billing is a very different problem from a bill that's expensive because the unit rate has increased. The solution to one is to submit regular readings and potentially challenge the backbilling. The solution to the other is to find a better contract. Confusing the two means you might switch supplier, pay a new contract fee, and still end up with a catch-up bill from the old supplier six weeks later.
From Our Experience
We regularly see businesses worrying about higher prices when the real issue is that months of estimated billing have finally caught up with them. It's not unusual to speak to a business owner who is convinced their supplier has doubled their unit rate, only to find that the unit rate hasn't changed at all — the bill is simply correcting a shortfall that's been building for the best part of a year.
We also see the opposite: businesses who assume the high bill is just another catch-up, when in fact their contract expired six months ago and they've been quietly paying Variable Business Rates ever since. The consumption figure is accurate; it's the unit rate that's the problem.
The only way to know which situation you're in is to check both — the meter reading and the rate. That's why we always start with the meter.
How We Investigate This
Request a current meter reading
Before anything else, we ask for a reading taken today — ideally with a photograph of the meter. This is the foundation of everything that follows.
Compare it with the latest bill
We check the reading on the bill against the current reading. If there's a large gap, we know whether the bill is likely to be a catch-up or whether consumption has genuinely spiked.
Check whether the bill is estimated or actual
An "E" next to the meter reading means it's estimated. We check how long estimated billing has been running and whether the estimates look reasonable.
Compare previous bills
We look at the last three or four bills to see whether the increase is a one-off or part of a trend. We compare the kWh figures, not just the totals.
Review the unit rate
We check the unit rate on the current bill against the contracted rate. If it's changed, we find out why.
Review the standing charge
We check whether the standing charge has increased and whether that increase is consistent with the contract.
Check whether the contract has expired
We look at the contract end date. If it's in the past, the account has almost certainly moved onto out-of-contract rates.
Identify whether Variable Business Rates apply
If the contract has expired, we establish what rate the business is currently on and what it would cost to move onto a new fixed deal.
Consider the 12 month backbilling guidance
If the supplier has been estimating bills for a long period and the estimates were significantly wrong, we consider whether the 12 month backbilling guidance could be relevant. This depends on the individual circumstances — it's not a blanket protection, but it's worth understanding in cases where the catch-up covers a long period.
Common Mistakes
Assuming prices have increased
This is the most common one. The instinct is to blame the supplier for putting prices up. Sometimes that's right. More often, the real cause is estimated billing, a contract expiry, or a catch-up. Jumping straight to a price comparison before checking the meter reading means you might solve the wrong problem.
Ignoring estimated bills
Estimated bills feel harmless because they're often lower than the actual consumption. But every estimated bill that's too low is building up a debt that will eventually need to be settled. The longer estimated billing runs, the larger the eventual catch-up.
Not submitting meter readings
Submitting a reading once a month takes two minutes. It prevents estimated billing from drifting, reduces the risk of catch-up bills, and gives you a clear record if a dispute arises. It's one of the simplest things a business can do to keep its energy bills accurate.
Only comparing unit rates
The unit rate is important, but it's not the whole picture. The standing charge, the contract length, the exit clauses, the supplier's track record on billing accuracy — all of these matter. A very low unit rate from a supplier with poor billing practices can end up costing more in time and stress than a slightly higher rate from a reliable one.
Forgetting contract renewal dates
Energy contracts don't renew themselves on competitive terms. When a fixed contract expires, the default is out-of-contract rates. Setting a calendar reminder six months before the end date gives you time to compare the market properly and arrange a new contract before the old one runs out.
Before You Contact Your Supplier
Having these things ready before you call will make the conversation much more productive — and will help us if you contact us instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Send Us Your Bill
If you're not sure why your bill has increased, send it to us along with a photograph of the meter. We normally start by checking the meter readings before looking at prices — because in our experience, that's often where the answer is found.
There's no charge for this. We'll go through the bill, tell you what we find, and let you know whether there's anything worth challenging or whether a better deal is available.