Half Hourly Electricity

Definition of Half hourly (00) meters – Electricity meter over 100KW capacity.

Half hourly (00) meters are normally used by businesses and they measure electricity usage every half hour and sends out reading to your supplier. Half hourly meters are not smart meter but works like one. This type of meters send out reading automatically which is why there is no need for manual readings.

Half hourly meters also help you manage the usage of your electricity which helps business to bring electricity bills down!

What business have half hourly meters?

Half hourly meter is legally required (mandatory) for all UK business electricity customers who have heavy usage.

Half hourly (00) meters – Electricity meter over 100kVA (Kilo Volt Amperes) capacity.

How can I find out if I have a half hourly meter?

The supplier (S) number on your bill will help you to find whether your meter is half-hourly or not.

The supplier number starts with the letter ‘S.‘ It will be on your electricity bill as below.

If your electricity supplier no. begins with 00 than you have half hourly meter.

What is HH Meter Operator?

Meter operator installs the half hourly meter and maintains it and establish communication equipment or device. Meter Operator also sends technical meter details to the Data Collector to enable collection of electricity consumption data.

What is HH Data Collector?

Half Hourly Data Collector collects energy consumption data from the meter and passes to the energy supplier for billing.

Do half hourly prices differ than regular energy prices?

Actually, Half Hourly energy consumers receive tailored quotes from suppliers as per their requirements. There are quite a bit of chances to getting lower pricing because supplier has more accurate information about your usage.

What is P272 Regulation?

P272 is the regulation authorized by Ofgem that says energy suppliers to settle half hourly meter to all businesses under profile class 5-8. Through this regulation, Ofgem informed all the energy suppliers to fix Half Hourly Meter to all new businesses and renewal contracts on or after 5^th November 2015.

How to Find the profile class from electricity meter?

See the below image to know the profile class mentioned in your electricity meter’s MAPN number. MPAN(Meter point administration number) is a 21 digit unique number issued by electricity supplier.

Here is a detailed view of various profile classes and their description. please take a quick view on below table.

What is Half-hourly settlement (HHS) and why it is important?

Ofgem thinks the half-hourly settlement is in consumer’s interest and there are few expected outcomes as well.

• • It boosts innovation and healthy competition in the energy market
  • It helps to create the perfect environment for more demand side response (DSR), which leads to a more efficient energy system. The main benefit is that it allows suppliers to help the consumers move load to periods when electricity is the cheapest.

• Energy suppliers can forecast the demand more accurately.
• It makes the settlement process faster & efficient and also reduce barriers to energy to the energy market.

What kind of electricity prices apply to half hourly meter?

Half hourly electricity prices are different compare to standard electricity meter prices. Half hourly electricity prices are based on the usage data provided by the meter every half hour and it varies based on usage.

Can I switch my half hourly business electricity tariffs?

Yes you can!

Supplier side benefits of half hourly meters

• Easy to install
• Provides periodic reading to the supplier
• Can be used for load balancing
• Automatically gives accurate information about the usage
• Does not require the supplier or user to provide manual meter readings.

Shay Ramani