Understanding your energy bill

Billing period (4):

This states the time period for which the bill/invoice has been issued.

Reading type (most often on the reverse side of the bill):

This indicates how the energy units you have used during the billing period have been counted: This is either an estimate (based on your past usage) or an actual meter reading (after a meter reading had been submitted either by yourself or a third party).

Charges (5):

The overall amount charged on your bill/invoice is made up of four components:

Standing charges (6):

This is a fixed amount that covers providing and maintaining energy supply, collection of meter readings and account service costs. The amount differs depending on where you live, either “rural” or “urban”.

PSO levy (7):

The Public Service Obligation Levy is mandated and collected by the government to support the development of renewable energy sources.

VAT (8):

Value added tax on electricity is currently 9%.

Usage charges (9):

This states the energy units (measured in kWh) used during the billing period which are multiplied by the unit cost.

The price of one unit can differ depending on the time of day energy is being used. These would appear as day-, peak- and night-tariffs. If no tariffs are mentioned you are paying the same tariff (standard tariff) over 24 hours. If different tariffs are being recorded depends on your meter (see Understanding your meter).