Usage details are displayed on the 2nd page of each bill.

Reports can be generated on Business Online. 

We issue you a bill on the same day every month/2 months; As your meter is only read up to 4 times a year by the meter operator (NIE T&D), we have to estimate your consumption to ensure that you get your bill when you expect it.

Sometimes we will have an actual meter read but your bill may also contain some estimation. This is because we issue your bill on the same date every month/2 months and the read mightn't cover the full billing period. We’ll estimate your consumption from the actual meter read date to the end of your billing period.

This does not apply to Max Demand or Interval customers as your bills are not estimated. 

You can check the balance on your account at any time by logging into your Business Online account. If you’ve just made a top-up payment, please allow up to 3 working days for this to be reflected in your account.

If you don’t have access to your Business Online account you can find out your balance by contacting our dedicated Customer Service Team. 

Disconnection and reconnection charges 

Electricity meter and service charges 

Additional Details

Find out more about connection, metering and service charges from Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), which owns and operates the electricity transmission and distribution network. 

You have 14 days to pay your bill from the date it was generated. This is shown as 'Payment Due' on the front of your bill.

If your circumstances have changed and you’re having trouble paying your bill, please let us know as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary charges.

If you’re a direct debit customer, make sure to do this at least 5 days before your payment due date so we can stop your direct debit from being initiated. 

Charges in your electricity contract include both the SSE Airtricity energy supply charges and Utility Regulator approved Pass-Through charges. As you can see in your contract, the SSE Airtricity energy supply charges will follow the agreed contractual risk management strategy e.g. fixed energy price, for the duration stipulated in the contract, and Pass-Through charges will only change with approval by the Utility Regulator.

The only differences in the charges set out below are the result of the Pass-Through charges change, which have been approved by the Regulator for 2022/2023.

The Pass-Through charges applied by NIE Networks, System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI) and the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) for the 2022/2023 period have now been set, and the changes to your contract prices are noted below. Additional charges have been introduced by I-SEM, these are shown below.

The net adjustments will be applied to your bill from 1 October 2022.

What are Pass-Through Charges?

Electricity Suppliers in Northern Ireland pay multiple different regulated charges and levies which they in turn must pass on to their customers through their billing and rates. Regulated charges for the use of the electricity distribution and transmission network in Northern Ireland and a levy known as the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy are set by NIE Networks and the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI). The maximum amount recoverable is approved by the Utility Regulator. Other regulated costs, including capacity payments, are associated with the Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM) and are set by the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) and the maximum amount recoverable is set by the SEM Committee. Usually NIE Networks, SEMO and SONI set these charges, and the Energy Regulator approves the charges, on an annual basis.

Pass-Through charges are applied equally to all suppliers.

Pass-Through charges include

• Transmission Use of Systems (TUoS)
• Distribution Use of Systems (DUoS)
• Public Service Obligation (PSO)
• System Support and Services (SSS)
• Supplier Capacity Charges price
• Difference payment socialisation multiplier
• Residual Error Volume Price
• Currency Cost price and currency Adjustment charge factor
• Collection Agency Income Requirement (CAIR)
• Market Operator Charges (MO)
• Imperfection Charges
• Northern Ireland Renewable Obligation (NIROC)
• Availability Charges
• Standing Charge
• Reactive Charge
• Demand Capacity Charge*

How will the changes in Pass-Through costs impact my premises? 

The level of Pass-Through charges applicable to your premises and the change in these costs from 1 October 2022 depends on Use of System (UoS) Code linked to your premise(s) which is explained on your advisory letter. All supply points connected to the electricity network have a connected UoS code. The UoS code is assigned by NIE Networks to the premise based on the network connection characteristics and metering configuration.

Dependent on the UoS code for the premise(s), the net adjustment to your current rates from their current level are detailed in the table below.

SSE Airtricity’s pricing proposal set out the Pass-Through charges that were used to calculate the tariffs. For any customers now coming towards the end of their contract term, the renewal quotation will reflect the 2022/2023 Pass-Through charges and we won’t need to further update your bill.

Half hourly metering - net change to tariffs from 1st October 2022

Non-Half Hour Metering - Net Change To Tariffs From 1 October 2022

You can find a brief explanation of the changes in the Regulated Charges for 2022/2023 “Regulated Tariff Values – Information Note” which is on the Utility Regulator’s Website (www.uregni.gov.uk). The I-SEM tariff components are explained on the SEMO committee website https://www.semcommittee.com/news under I-SEM tariffs and Charges.

If you would like us to send you a copy of the detailed charges, have any questions about your new tariffs or any other aspect of your service from SSE Airtricity, we’re here to help. Please call us on 0345 602 9857 for large business customers and 0345 266 1787 for small, medium and enterprise Business customers.
Thank you for choosing SSE Airtricity as your chosen electricity supplier.

Kind regards,
Business Energy
SSE Airtricity

*Customers who have demand capacity charge as Pass-Through within their contract

Your direct debit will be taken out of your account 14 days after your bill is issued. This is shown as the 'Payment Due Date' on your bill.

Any extra non-direct debit payments you have made up to 5 days before the Payment Due Date will be taken off the balance of your direct debit; payments made after this will be credited to your next bill. 

Standing charges are a combination of the fixed charges associated with providing electricity and gas network services and a share of the supply costs in servicing your account. They may vary by supplier. 

First check your consumption:

It could be that your previous bills have been based on estimated reads and this one is based on an actual meter read. Look at the back of your bills under the Usage Details section. If meter readings are estimated, they'll be clearly marked with (E). If your account has been estimated for a period of time, an actual meter read may mean a larger or smaller than expected bill. This is because your account may have been under or overestimated for a period of time and this bill is correcting that.

Is this bill based on an estimated read? If so, read and submit an actual meter read and we will cancel (reverse) this bill and re-bill you using these actual reads.

What period does the bill cover? Your current bill may cover a longer or shorter period than your previous bills. If so, you should check if the daily charge in this bill is in line with previous bills. This is calculated by dividing the total value of the bill by the number of days the billing period covers.

Have you changed the way you use electricity? Your energy consumption can increase for lots of reasons, for example fitting new appliances or machinery, extending your premises or changing your business hours.

The time of year can also impact the amount of electricity you use.  

ROCs changes

From 1 April 2022, the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation Cost (ROCs) decreased from 19.4% to 19.3% ROCs per MWh of electricity supplied. The buy-out price increased for each ROC from £50.80 to £52.88.

These changes equate to an increase of 0.04 pence per kWh (£0.0004 per kWh).

We’ll apply the increased pass-through costs to your bill from 1 April 2022. For more information on this see the OFGEM website.

Climate Change Levy (CCL)

There has been no change to CCL in 2022, so the decrease effective from 1 April 2021 is still applicable. CCL decreased from 0.811 pence to 0.775 pence (£0.00811 to £0.00775) per kWh.

These changes equate to a decrease of 0.036 pence per kWh (£0.00036 per kWh).

SSE Airtricity will apply the new CCL rate to your invoices from 1 April 2021. Further details on this change can be found here.

SSE Airtricity expects the next change in pass-through costs to be from 1 October 2022, which will arise from the annual review of inter alia transportation and distribution use of system charges, Single Electricity Market (SEM) costs and the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy.

Should you have any queries about your new tariffs or any other aspect of your service from SSE Airtricity, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service Team, who are available Monday to Friday 9am-5:30pm on webchat, by email at businessenergy@sseairtricity.com or by phone at 0345 266 1787.