Fixed charges for transport and supply explained for businesses
Direct answer
Standing charges, or vastrecht in Dutch, are the part of your energy bill that you pay regardless of how much you use. They consist of two separate streams: a fixed fee to your energy supplier for administration and customer management, and network charges to your grid operator for the connection and transport. Only that second stream relates to the size of your connection.
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Fixed charges for transport and supply explained: scattered information versus Energy Intelligence
Your energy bill contains items you pay even in a month when you use almost nothing. These are the standing charges. For a business that has just taken on a property, or that temporarily shuts a site down, this often comes as a surprise: the meter barely moves, yet an amount still accrues. Standing charges exist because a connection and customer administration cost money as long as you are connected, regardless of usage. This applies to every business with an electricity or gas connection.
- The fixed supply costs go to your energy supplier for items such as administration and customer management; they are independent of your usage.
- The network charges go to your grid operator and include a capacity tariff that depends on your connection size, plus a fixed part.
- You can choose and switch your supplier, but not your grid operator: there is exactly one per region, and the regulator ACM caps the tariffs.
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What two parts make up the standing charges?
Your fixed costs come from two different parties, but often appear together on one bill. The first part is the fixed supply costs from your energy supplier. That is a fixed amount for costs the supplier incurs beyond the energy itself, such as administration and customer management. This part differs per supplier. The second part is the network charges from your grid operator. You pay these for your connection and for transporting energy across the grid. Within the network charges there is a capacity tariff plus a fixed monthly amount, the grid operator's standing charge, for its other costs. You pay both parts independently of how much you use that month.
- Fixed supply costs: from your energy supplier, for administration and customer management.
- Network charges: from your grid operator, for the connection and transport.
- Within the network charges sit a capacity tariff and a fixed part.
- Neither part moves with your usage in that month.
Why is it on one bill and why can you influence only one part?
In practice your energy supplier often also invoices the network charges and puts them on the same bill. So you see one amount, while the money goes to two parties. That distinction matters, because you cannot treat them the same way. You choose your energy supplier yourself, and you can switch to another supplier with different fixed supply costs. You do not choose your grid operator: there is exactly one per region, determined by where your connection lies. Switching is not possible there. Because you have no choice, the regulator ACM supervises the network charges and sets the maximum tariffs each year, so that you do not pay too much.
- The supplier often invoices both parts together on one bill.
- You can choose your energy supplier and switching is possible.
- Your grid operator is fixed: one per region, tied to your location.
- The ACM sets the maximum network charges you may be asked to pay each year.
What does this mean for a business with low utilisation?
The capacity tariff depends on your connection: the larger the connection, the higher this tariff. You pay it for the capacity reserved for you, even if you use only part of it. For a business that uses little relative to its connection, the fixed costs therefore weigh heavily. The bill then consists mostly of fixed items and much less of usage. This affects, for example, a site with a generous connection that rarely runs at full capacity, or a property that stands empty part of the year. It pays to know how large your connection is and whether it matches what you actually use.
- The capacity tariff rises with the size of your connection.
- You pay for reserved capacity, even with partial use.
- With low utilisation, fixed costs form a large share of the bill.
- Know your connection size and whether it fits your actual usage.
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