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No standing charge energy tariffs – 2024

Standing charges are like a daily membership fee for your energy services. Think of it as paying a little bit every day to ensure that gas and electricity can come into your home whenever you need them.

This fee helps pay for the pipes and wires that bring energy to your house and also covers the cost of keeping these services running smoothly.

Here’s a breakdown of what standing charges cover:

  1. Maintenance: They help maintain the huge network of cables and pipes that deliver energy to all homes.
  2. Energy Supply: Even when you’re not using energy, your home is always connected to the supply. Standing charges help keep this connection ready and available.
  3. Meter readings: Not sure much of a cost now with the growing use of smart meters
  4. Costs of failed suppliers: Costs from these suppliers that went bust are spread among all other existing suppliers
  5. Government initiatives: Such as the Warm Home discount or environmental initiatives

Whether you use a lot or a little energy, you’ll pay this charge every day. It’s separate from the cost of the actual gas or electricity you use, which will change depending on how much energy you consume.

Currently, there is only one supplier in the UK (as of August 2024) that offers no standing charge, and this is Utilita.

They offer a variable tariff with zero standing charges for both gas and electricity.

The rates are below for their tariff in the East Midlands (Price per kWh may vary based on your location):

Gas Price per kWhGas Standing ChargeElectricity Price per kWhElectricity Standing Charge
21.38p0p51.71p0p
Last updated: 28/08/2024

With Utilita being the only supplier that currently offers no standing charge, we’ve looked at the top suppliers to see who has the cheapest standing charge for both gas and electricity (this is again for the East Midlands).

Variable tariffs

As you can see below, for a gas and electricity variable tariff, Octopus Energy leads the way with the lowest standing charges on both (except for Utilita).

Supplier NameTariff NameGas Standing ChargeElectricity Standing ChargeDaily TotalYearly Total
UtilitaSmart Energy000£0
Octopus EnergyFlexible Octopus29.04p53.94p82.98p£302.88
Co-Operative EnergyCo-op Flexible29.04p53.94p82.98p£302.88
Utility WarehouseValue30.96p55.86p86.82p£316.89
So EnergySo Flex31.1p55.99p87.09p£317.88
OVO EnergySimpler Energy31.1p55.99p87.09p£317.88
EDF EnergyStandard Variable31.1p55.99p87.09p£317.88
Scottish PowerStandard31.1p55.99p87.09p£317.88
E. ON NextNext Flex31.1p56p87.09p£317.88
Good EnergyGood Energy Standard31.1p55.99p87.09p£317.88
Outfox the MarketFox Standard Dual31.1p56p87.1p£317.92
Sainsbury’s EnergyStandard Variable31.11p56p87.11p£317.95
British GasStandard Variable31.11p56p87.11p£317.95

Over the course of a year, you would pay £302.88 in standing charges with Octopus.

Fixed tariffs

When it comes to a dual fuel fixed tariff, Scottish Power offers the cheapest standing charge overall, followed by British Gas and Octopus.

Supplier NameTariff NameGas Standing ChargeElectricity Standing ChargeDaily TotalYearly Total
Scottish PowerHelp Beat Cancer Flexi29.6p50.68p80.28p£293.02
British GasFixed Tariff 12M28.37p53.26p81.63p£297.95
Octopus EnergyOctopus 12M Fixed29.04p53.94p82.98p£302.88
Outfox The MarketFix’d Dual31p56p87p£317.55
Ovo Energy1 Year Fixed31.06p55.96p87.02p£317.62
So EnergySo Orange One Year – Green31.1p55.99p87.09p£317.88
EDF EnergyEDF Essentials31.1p56p87.1p£317.92
E. ON NextNext Fixed 12M31.11p56p87.11p£317.95
Sainsbury’s EnergyFix and Reward Fixed 12m31.11p56p87.11p£317.95

We have created a quick calculator below where you can experiment with different standing charges to see how much they add up over the course of a day, month, week and year. You should be able to find your standing charges on your latest energy bill.

Choosing an energy supplier with the lowest standing charge might seem like a smart way to save money, but it’s not always straightforward.

The total bill is what really affects your wallet, combining the standing charge and the price you pay for each unit of energy (called the unit rate). Sometimes, a lower standing charge comes with a higher unit rate, and if you use a lot of energy, this could end up costing more.

  • Low Usage: If you don’t use much energy, maybe because you’re often out or your home is very energy-efficient, a low standing charge could save you money.
  • High Usage: For homes using lots of energy, maybe with larger families or less efficient appliances, finding a balance between a reasonable standing charge and a lower unit rate might be better.

With Utilita, for example, despite having no standing charge on their variable tariff, their unit rate for electricity is more than double that of Octopus and more than three times higher when it comes to gas.

The average three-bedroom home would have a lower bill with Octopus. A very low-energy user in a smaller home, however, would likely have a cheaper bill with Utilita.

Rob
Rob

Hi, I'm Rob and I run Energy-Review.co.uk. I initially started this project 5 years ago when I was looking to switch energy suppliers and found there wasn't a website that provided simple, data backed reviews on all the suppliers available. Since then, I spent have a lot of time (too much some may say!) looking at all publicly available data about each supplier and writing reviews using this information. These reviews are updated as regularly as possible and any data is backed up by a source where necessary. I have also started writing guides on various energy related topics which hopefully you will find useful. If you find any issues, please use our contact form to let us know.

2 Comments
  1. hi
    I am one person
    I currently pay more on standing charges than what I use.

  2. As the UK GOV sold UK’s re-new power output for 2026 to the open market at below 3p per Kw hour. Do you think the new Keir Starmer plan :- Labour will set up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security help? If he buy’s the 2027’s re-new output. And cuts the Gas to Electric price connation. What sort of saving could we be look at? 50% cheaper 65% cheaper with also looking at the Standing Charge cost being justified. Like bank charges in the past?

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