The line people miss on the bill: the standing charge rises whatever you use
Why cutting your consumption leaves the total almost exactly where it was.
A reader sent us two bills side by side: usage down eleven per cent, the amount owed practically unchanged. The difference is not in the top line, it is in the fixed charges further down.
The standing charge is worked out regardless of how many units you get through. The household that cuts its usage cannot cut that part.
Analysts agree on one point only: the effect will show up late. On everything else they split.
How to read a bill
For a household budget the difference is not in the percentages, it is in which week the payment falls.
Trade bodies say they expect a change in the rules. There is no draft to hang that expectation on yet.
What can actually be done
Figures on their own can mislead. The same data tells two different stories depending on which month you compare it with.
There is no way to zero out the fixed lines. But reading the bill row by row at least shows which savings reach your pocket and which only exist on paper.
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