What Are Standing Charges and Why Are They So High on My Bill?
Energy Support
- Standing charges are fixed daily fees that now make up a big chunk of many bills
- You can’t control how Ofgem sets standing charges, but you can check your bill is right, choose tariffs and payment methods that suit your usage and cut avoidable energy waste
- Practical advice and bill checks from LEAP can help you manage costs and stay in control
Have you ever opened your energy bill and thought, “I hardly used anything… why is it still this high?”. For many households, the standing charge is now a big chunk of what they pay, and it can be confusing, especially when money is tight.
Let’s look at what standing charges are, why they’ve gone up and how LEAP can help you to stay in control.
What is a standing charge?
The standing charge is a fixed daily fee you pay to have gas and electricity supplied to your home. It’s there whether you use a lot, a little or even nothing at all that day.
It helps cover things like:
- Getting energy through pipes and cables to your property
- Maintaining the network and meters
- Some supplier running costs and government schemes to support vulnerable customers and greener energy
You’ll usually see one standing charge for electricity and one for gas on your bill. Prepayment meters have them too. The charge still comes off your balance each day, even in summer or when you’re away.
Why are standing charges so high (and why do they change)?
A lot has been happening behind the scenes in energy over the last few years. More suppliers went bust, network costs have risen and there’s ongoing investment to upgrade the system. To recover these fixed costs, more emphasis has been put on to standing charges more emphasis has been put on to standing charges, which affects everyone.
What you can’t control, and what you can
You can’t directly choose how Ofgem sets the cap or what the network costs are. But that doesn’t mean you’re unable to make a difference.
Things you can’t easily change
- The level of the standing charge on your current tariff (though you can look for a different tariff with a lower one)
- The region you live in, which affects prices
- How often the price cap changes
Things you can control
Start with a quick MOT of your bill:
- Does the billing period look correct?
- Do the meter numbers match the ones on your meters?
- Are the readings actual (“A” or “C”) rather than estimated (“E”)?
- Does the daily standing charge match what your tariff says?
If anything looks off, take clear photos of your meters and contact your supplier in writing asking them to rebill to actual readings.
The standing charge is fixed, but the rest of your bill is based on how many units of energy you use. Even small changes, like trimming shower times or turning appliances off instead of leaving them on standby, can add up over a year.
- Some tariffs have higher standing charges but lower unit rates, and others do the opposite. If you’re a low user, a lower standing charge may suit you better. If you use more energy, a lower unit rate might save more.
- Payment method matters. For many households, Direct Debit still works out cheaper over the year than paying when you receive a bill, or some prepayment tariffs.
If you’re on prepayment, remember that standing charges keep ticking over daily, even in summer or when you’re away. If you don’t top up for a while, these charges can quietly pull your meter into debt, so your next top-up disappears faster than you expect. Small, regular top-ups can help you keep on top of this.
LEAP can:
- Go through your bill line by line so you can see exactly what you’re paying for
- Help you compare tariffs, standing charges and unit prices
- Suggest practical, low-cost ways to bring your usage down
- Check what financial or energy support you might be able to access
If standing charges and rising bills are worrying you, a short LEAP advice call could be the first step towards feeling more in control of your energy, even when some parts of the bill are fixed.
