How to Calculate Electricity Bill using Meter reading?

READING YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL – EXPLAINED

Your electricity bills are far from straightforward; there’s a lot of jargon to get a handle on. Here’s a basic guide to reading your electric bill to know exactly what’s going on.

Most retailers have a detailed explanation of their bills and what all the charges mean. Below this post is a series of links that will help you better understand your bill.

Account Summary + Due Date

This gives you an overview of your electric charges and when your bill is due. Some may give you a “pay on time” discount if you pay your bill by a certain date. It may also show your total usage in Kilowatt Hours (kWh.) It will also give information on your supply address and meter reading interval (if applicable.)

Charge Breakdown and Tariffs

• This gives you two bits of information your retailer uses to calculate your bill. The usage charge and the service charge
• Some usage charges are estimated (denoted by ‘E’) or actual (denoted by ‘A’) depending on if your meter is read manually
• Usage charges are listed by type: peak, off-peak, or shouldered. Some rates are set up into blocks. For example: Your first 300kWh may cost $0.30 per kWh, while the next 300kWh may cost $0.32
• These charges are shown as a base price and with government, GST added
• Your bill may also show credits. You may have credits if you are a party to a solar feed-in scheme, are eligible for senior discounts, or have overpaid a previous bill.

Payment

This section tells you how you can pay your bill.

You can usually pay via Direct Debit, BPAY, Credit Card (may incur a fee), or by mail. Some retailers may include a link in an online bill, giving you access to payment via PayPal.This section may have a graph comparing your consumption to the last meter period or even last year.

A Guide to Read Your Bill

Below you can find some direct links to 2 of the biggest energy retailers and their guides on how to read their bills. Click on their logos to be taken directly to their sites.