Last updated: 30 Mar 2023
Service to property charges
Explains the fixed charges for supplying electricity or gas to properties.
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What are service to property charges?
Service to property charges are the charges an energy company can charge you for supplying electricity or gas to your address. They are the costs you pay for being connected to the electricity or gas grid. Distributors are responsible for maintaining network infrastructure, such as the poles, wires and pipes that supply energy to your property. The distributor passes its costs to your retail company (the company that sends you your bill) and that company passes the costs on to you.
These charges are fixed, meaning you will have to pay them no matter how much electricity or gas you use, even if you are away from your property and not using any electricity or gas.
These charges will apply when a meter is present at a property, even if it is not in use, for example, in a new development where a meter has been installed but a house hasn’t been built. If you do not have an active account for electricity or gas, the service to property charge will be billed by the company that has billing rights at the property. You may receive a bill from this company for the service to property charges.
What else might the charges be called?
Service to property charges can go by many names. Your bill may list the charges as:
- Fixed charge
- Daily service charge
- Daily supply charge
- Network charge
The charges may appear as a single monetary figure for the billing period or they may be displayed as a daily rate (i.e. cents per day). For example, Flexi Saver Supply Charge, 94 days at $0.89 per day, totalling $83.66.
How can EWOV help?
We can’t investigate the prices energy companies set. We can investigate other issues related to bills, including if you have a complaint about a mistake on your bill, if you haven’t received a bill in a long time, if your company has sent you a backbill for a previous period, or if you are having trouble paying a bill.