What is a half-hourly meter?

A half-hourly meter is an energy meter that records your energy consumption every 30 minutes, or 48 times per day.

Which businesses need a half-hourly meter?

Half-hourly meters are mandatory for some businesses, generally those with high energy consumption, such as factories, warehouses, distribution centres and supermarkets. Specifically, they are mandatory for high energy consumption businesses that have a maximum demand of at least 100kW in any half-hour period during the day. These businesses currently account for most of the UK’s 100,000+ half-hourly meters. As of April 2017, all businesses with a profile class of 05 to 08 are legally required to use a half-hourly meter, as part of Ofgem’s P272 legislation. By December 2026, all energy suppliers will be required to offer half-hourly meters. A half-hourly meter is optional, but recommended, for businesses with a maximum demand of more than 70kW.

How much will I pay on a half-hourly meter?

Half-hourly metering allows your energy supplier to get a near real-time picture on your company’s energy consumption. Because of this, these meters have a slightly different pricing model attached, based on your individual usage. By taking readings every 30 minutes, a half-hourly meter ensures that you’re more likely to be billed for your actual usage, rather than estimated usage within billing periods. Accurate consumption data allows businesses to negotiate more favourable business energy tariffs with their suppliers. In the case of energy supplier Social Energy, half-hourly settlement enables them to charge their customers’ batteries when electricity is inexpensive and to release power when electricity is more expensive, therefore ensuring customers get the best deal.

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A big thank you to the team at SMS for contributing to the timely delivery of 100% complete monthly settlement data. The availability of our D+1 data has greatly improved, and we appreciate all your efforts in resolving our data issues, scheduling site visits, providing accurate data and finding solutions for sites with poor signals as quickly as possible. This is crucial for timely invoicing and data submission to our regulator.