ScottishPower Business
ScottishPower Business Out-of-Contract Rates From 1 January 2025
When a fixed contract ends and nothing replaces it, your supply moves onto ScottishPower Business's default rates. Here are the published figures, what they could cost your business a month, and how quickly you may be able to leave them.
Small business customers on the standard variable tariff paying by Direct Debit.
The figures above are for Manweb. Every supply area is priced differently, so yours will not match exactly. See the published rates for your area →
What it's costing you a month
The published rates, plus the Climate Change Levy at 0.801p/kWh and VAT at whichever rate applies to a supply your size. Monthly, because that's how the bill lands.
Your annual usage is on your bill — shown as EAC for electricity, AQ for gas. A rough figure is fine.
Published rates
ScottishPower Business out-of-contract and deemed rates
The rates further up this page are for Manweb. It carries the highest standing charge of the fourteen supply areas, and works out dearest for a typical small business — though not for everyone: Scottish Hydro has a higher unit rate, so a heavy user there pays more. Your area's exact figures are below. Out-of-contract and deemed are two different things and they cost different amounts. Tell us which one you are and where you are.
Not sure which area you are in?
Look for the box marked with a large S on the left. It looks like this:
The top row is not it. Those are your meter's technical codes and they are the ones most people read by mistake. Your MPAN is the bottom row, thirteen digits, and the first two give you your area — 10 is Eastern, 13 is Manweb (Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales), 23 Yorkshire, 12 London.
Or paste the whole thing here and we will read it for you:
Your rates
Rates published by ScottishPower Business, effective 1 January 2025. Shown exclusive of VAT and CCL, exactly as published. Source.
Faster than most people think
This is usually where people are working from out-of-date information. Switching isn't the multi-week process it once was. Typical timings, assuming nothing is holding the supply up:
Staying with ScottishPower Business
Moving from the default rates onto one of their fixed prices can often be done the next day. No switch, no registration, no objection window.
Moving to a new supplier
Under Faster Switching, a change of supplier can usually complete within five working days once the new contract has been accepted and registered.
If your contract is still running
Agree the replacement about a week before it ends and you shouldn't need to touch the default rates at all. The new price takes over as the old one finishes.
The one thing that genuinely holds a switch up is an objection, and there are only two common causes: an outstanding balance with your current supplier, or a change of tenancy that was never registered, so the account is still in someone else's name. Both are fixable, and both are far easier to deal with before you're relying on a start date. It's the first thing we check.
Which means there's no useful reason to wait. Every week on default rates is charged at default rates, and the week you spend arranging the replacement is the only one you can't get back.
Already had an offer? Let us check it
Send us the renewal letter or the quote you've been given — a photo of it is fine. We'll put the unit rate, the standing charge, the term and the commission built into it against what else is available today, and tell you plainly whether it's a good deal.
Including if it already is. That happens, and we'd rather say so than waste your time and ours.
- No obligation
- We'll show the commission
Deemed and out-of-contract aren't quite the same
The terms get used interchangeably and suppliers rarely distinguish them, but it's worth knowing which applies. Deemed means you're taking supply without ever having agreed a contract with that supplier — nearly always because you moved into a premises where they were already the incumbent. Out-of-contract means you had a contract, it ended, and nothing replaced it.
ScottishPower Business puts both onto the same default rates, so the figures above apply either way. The difference also matters for what happens next: a deemed supply usually needs the change of tenancy registering and an opening read submitted, and until that's done a switch can be objected to. If you've recently taken over a site, sort that first.
Common questions
How do I tell if I'm on these rates?
Look on your bill for a tariff described as deemed, variable or out-of-contract — or a contract end date that's blank or already passed. A unit rate near 29.81p/kWh is a strong hint. Send us the bill if the wording isn't clear.
Do these rates include VAT and the Climate Change Levy?
No — the published schedule excludes both. CCL is 0.801p/kWh on electricity and gas, equalised across the two fuels. VAT is 20% for most businesses.
Smaller supplies are treated differently: under 33 kWh a day of electricity or 145 kWh a day of gas, you pay 5% VAT and no CCL at all. The calculator applies whichever is right for the usage you enter.
Will I be charged for leaving, and how long does it take?
No charge. Default rates have no fixed term and no exit fee — the one advantage they have. You can leave as soon as a new contract is ready to take over.
On timing, most people are working from how switching used to be. Under Faster Switching — the industry rules that replaced the old multi-week process — a change of supplier can usually complete within five working days once the new contract has been accepted and registered. If you stay with ScottishPower Business and simply move onto one of their fixed prices, there's no switch to process at all and it can often be done the next day.
The realistic delays aren't the switch itself: an outstanding balance or an unregistered change of tenancy can trigger an objection. Both are worth checking before you're relying on a start date.
What does Smart Energy charge?
Our commission is included in the price and disclosed before you sign anything. We apply the same agreed commission across every supplier we compare, so we have no incentive to recommend one over another.
Can you get me back onto a fixed price with ScottishPower Business?
Yes. We're not trying to move you for the sake of it — if their fixed price is the best available for your supply, staying put is the fastest route anyway, because it can be done the next day rather than in five.
Let's see what you should be paying
A few questions, and only the ones that apply to you. No obligation, and we'll tell you if you're already on a good rate.
Rates shown are ScottishPower Business's published charges effective 1 January 2025 and exclude VAT and CCL. The supplier can vary or withdraw them on notice. The calculator produces an estimate from the figures you enter — an actual bill depends on metered consumption, meter type and any charges billed outside the published schedule. It is not a quotation. We are not affiliated with ScottishPower Business; their name and logo are used to identify the supplier this page is about.
