Reading your electricity bill: standing charges, unit rates, and where the money goes

Two numbers that matter

1. Standing charge — currency/day regardless of use
2. Unit rate — currency/kWh, sometimes different by time band

Solar and efficiency measures mostly attack the unit-rate portion. Standing charges still matter for heat-pump vs gas comparisons and tariff ranking.

Map bands before comparing tariffs

If you are on time-of-use pricing, estimate peak / off-peak / night shares from smart-meter data, then use the tariff comparison tool.