Understanding your electricity bill

Having trouble understanding your electricity bill? Here’s what you need to know to demystify the jargon and make sense of what you’re being charged.

They say you get what you pay for, but when you don’t know exactly what you’re paying for, it’s easy to feel like you might be getting shortchanged. The contents of the electricity bill you receive every month or quarter can seem confusing, but when you break it all down, you’ll see your bill is no great mystery – and it might even help you to save money in the future.

What’s on my electricity bill?

The formatting of your bill is likely to change from one retailer to the next, but the information it should contain is standard.

Your electricity bill should show you:

• The billing period (the start and end date of the bill)
• How much you have to pay
• How much energy you used
• Whether you are using more or less energy in this billing period than you have in the past
• Your meter number
• Whether the bill is based on an estimate of your meter reading or an actual meter reading
• Any extra fees or charges you need to pay, like a disconnection fee or late payment fee
• Any amount credited to your account as part of a rebate or concession
• How to contact your energy retailer
• Your customer account or reference number, to quote when contacting your retailer

While there are four main costs that make up the price of your energy, there are only two major charges that should appear on your electricity bill – the supply charge and the usage charge.

Find out more on Stanwell’s energy explainer platform What’s Watt. Read more here.