Policy, networks & levies · Est. 2014
UK Business Energy Industry Updates
The costs that move your bill without the market moving at all.
A large part of a business energy bill isn't energy at all. Network charges, government levies, taxes and Ofgem decisions all land on the same invoice, on their own timetables, and none of them show up in a wholesale price. We track them and translate each change into what it does to your rate.
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- 2014 established
- Jargon translated, not assumed
Supplier by supplier
Out-of-Contract Rates
The published schedules, and what each one means in practice — for businesses that have rolled onto deemed or standard variable rates, or are about to.
Check Utilita business variable, deemed and out-of-contract rates for electricity and gas. Compare regions, HH charges and estimated costs, then get quotes.
Check ScottishPower business Standard Variable and Deemed rates from 1 October 2026. Compare payment methods, regions and meter types, then get energy quotes.
Check SmartestEnergy out-of-contract and deemed rates from 1 October 2026. See extra electricity charges, estimate costs and compare business energy quotes.
Check E.ON Next business deemed rates by region and meter type. Estimate electricity and gas costs with VAT and CCL, then compare renewal and supplier quotes.
Check Pozitive Energy’s out-of-contract and deemed rates, see additional charges and estimate costs. Compare renewal and new contract options for your business.
Check British Gas Lite VPP electricity and gas rates, understand AQ bands and estimate costs with VAT and CCL. Compare renewal and other supplier quotes.
Newest first
Latest Updates
Every report from the desk — market moves, supplier news and industry analysis, freshest at the top.
Get the latest UK gas and electricity wholesale prices. Updated daily with power market insights, price trends, and tips to help your business stay ahead.
Check Utilita business variable, deemed and out-of-contract rates for electricity and gas. Compare regions, HH charges and estimated costs, then get quotes.
Gas and power hit record highs this week; near-term renewals are now at the peak. Geopolitical risk and tight storage are the drivers.
Check ScottishPower business Standard Variable and Deemed rates from 1 October 2026. Compare payment methods, regions and meter types, then get energy quotes.
Check SmartestEnergy out-of-contract and deemed rates from 1 October 2026. See extra electricity charges, estimate costs and compare business energy quotes.
Check E.ON Next business deemed rates by region and meter type. Estimate electricity and gas costs with VAT and CCL, then compare renewal and supplier quotes.
Every Monday
Weekly Market Reports
What moved this week, why it moved, and what it means for business renewals.
Get the latest UK gas and electricity wholesale prices. Updated daily with power market insights, price trends, and tips to help your business stay ahead.
Gas and power hit record highs this week; near-term renewals are now at the peak. Geopolitical risk and tight storage are the drivers.
Gas and power rallied hard this week to multi-month highs. Near-term contracts climbed 9% and 6% respectively. What it means for your renewal.
Gas and power both hit record highs this week after falling early then climbing sharply mid-week on Middle East shipping risks.
Gas and power fell mid-week as Middle East supply fears eased, then recovered. Both sit in lower half of 30-day range; no rush to fix now.
Gas and power fell mid-week on peace hopes, then bounced back. Near-term eased; far-dated climbed. Curve split, no clear direction.
Monthly
Monthly Market Outlook
The longer view — gas, power, storage, weather and the forward market direction.
Get the latest UK gas and electricity wholesale prices. Updated daily with power market insights, price trends, and tips to help your business stay ahead.
September gas and power spiked on Middle East tensions, then eased as supply fears faded. Prices ended the month cheaper than they began but remain elevated.
August 2026: gas up 18%, power up 12%. Cheaper window closed as Hormuz tensions and low storage pushed prices to records.
July 2026 energy market review: gas and power climbed 35% and 25% on Middle East tensions, LNG tightness and low European storage.
June 2026: gas fell 9.5% to 102.61p but bounced 2.7% as geopolitical risks resurged. Power down 2.3%. Forward curve expects easing into 2027–28.
Day 54. Ceasefire extension holding but settlement climbed a third day — gas +4%, power +1%. UK nuclear delays, weak wind, vessel seizures support prices.
Supplier notices
Supplier Updates
Contract rules, billing changes and notices from UK business energy suppliers.
Day 54. Ceasefire extension holding but settlement climbed a third day — gas +4%, power +1%. UK nuclear delays, weak wind, vessel seizures support prices.
An EDF client faced an £84,963 bill based on years of estimated reads. We disputed it, invoked Ofgem's backbilling rules, and got it down to £2,158.
Tomato Energy customers transferred to British Gas on expensive deemed rates. Learn why you're overpaying and how to switch to better fixed contracts today.
Tomato Energy has ceased trading. Discover why it failed, what it means for customers, and critical lessons about choosing stable energy suppliers.
Tomato Energy faces administration after Ofgem’s £1.5m penalty for liquidity failings. Here’s what it means for affected business customers.
Are cowboy brokers adding up to 2.5p/kWh in hidden uplifts? Learn how to spot unfair business energy contracts and protect your business.
Industry & policy
Industry Insights
Policy, network costs, levies and regulation shaping business energy bills.
High business electricity standing charges despite low usage? Understand kVA capacity, TCR bands, CoMC and Ofgem’s DCP412 proposal, plus your review options.
Understand half-hourly meter costs, kVA capacity and CT to whole-current reviews. Check network charges and compare your next business electricity contract.
Check BICS eligibility using your company number. See electricity relief of up to 4p/kWh, application requirements and how Smart Energy could help.
A plain-English guide to MHHS for UK businesses: how half-hourly settlement works, the rollout timeline to 2027, and the one myth that could cost you money.
Ofgem is preparing to directly regulate energy brokers and other TPIs. See what may change, what protections already exist and what businesses should check.
From September 2027, new fixed-term business energy contracts will include smart meter requirements. See who is affected, your rights and what to check before renewal.
Free market intelligence
Know when to act. Before prices move.
Price analysis and renewal-timing advice — plain-English market intelligence, straight to your inbox. Daily, weekly or monthly, your choice. No jargon, no scare tactics.
- Forward-curve analysis
- Renewal timing guidance
- Supplier & regulatory alerts
- Advising 500+ UK businesses since 2014
Common questions
About industry changes.
Anything that changes what you pay without the wholesale market moving: Ofgem decisions, network
charge reviews, new or revised levies, tax changes, and the consultations that lead to them. If
it lands on a business energy bill and isn't the price of energy itself, it belongs here.
They're the charges for using the electricity network. TNUoS
covers the high-voltage
transmission system — the pylons moving power across the country. DUoS
covers the local
distribution network that takes it the last stretch to your building. Both are set through a
regulated process rather than by your supplier, and both vary by region
: the same business
in two different parts of the country pays differently for the identical supply.
This is the question worth asking, and the answer is: it depends what "fixed" means in your
contract.
Some fix the whole rate, so a levy increase is the supplier's problem. Many fix only
the energy element and pass network and levy changes straight through
— your "fixed" price
then moves mid-term, entirely legitimately, because the contract always said it could. It's in
the terms rather than the headline rate, which is why so few businesses know which they have.
We check that before you sign, and we'll tell you which one you're on now if you ask.
A tax charged per kWh on business energy, collected by your supplier and shown as its own line on
the bill. The rates are set by government and reviewed periodically. Reliefs exist — some
organisations and some very low-usage supplies pay a reduced rate or none at all — so it's worth
knowing whether you qualify rather than assuming you don't.
A charge that helps fund the construction of new nuclear generation, recovered through electricity
bills rather than through general taxation. It's a policy cost, so it doesn't rise and fall with
the market — it changes when the scheme changes. We cover it here when it does, and we show it as
its own component when we break a rate down rather than burying it in the unit price.
A relief for energy-intensive industries
— qualifying manufacturers get a reduction on
certain policy costs, on the basis that those costs would otherwise make them uncompetitive
against overseas producers. Most businesses don't qualify; those that do pay noticeably less, so
it's worth checking properly rather than ruling yourself out.
On their own cycles rather than a single calendar. Network charges follow a regulated annual
process, tax rates change with fiscal events, and levies change when policy does. That's precisely
why they catch businesses out — there's no one date to watch, so a bill can jump in a month when
nothing happened in the market at all.
It depends on your meter type, your region, your consumption and your sector — which is why a
generic answer is worth very little. Send us a recent bill and we'll break the rate down into its
parts and tell you which of these you're actually paying, and which you're not. Get a quote
and the breakdown comes with it.
Ready when you are
Your bill has more moving parts than the market. Know all of them.
Send us a recent bill and we'll break the rate into its parts — energy, network, levies and tax — so you can see exactly what you're paying for. Free, no obligation, no hard sell.
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- 2014 established
- Commission shown in writing
