Your Electricity Bill

Understanding your bill

We know that many customers find it difficult to understand their electricity bills. This guide helps to explain some of the important pieces of information on your bill.

Suppliers must include certain information on your electricity bill to make it clear and easy to understand. Not all suppliers’ bills will have the information in the same place as this sample bill.

*For customers with activated smart meters there no longer needs to be a meter reading on your bill.

The front page

On the front page of your bill you will usually find:

Account details

Account number

This is the number for your account with your supplier. You should always reference it when talking to them.

Emergency phone number

Your electricity bill will always show ESB Network's emergency contact number.

Address

This is the address the bill is sent to. It may not be the address where the energy used is being billed for.

MPRN

Your Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) is the unique code for your connection to the electricity network. You need this to switch suppliers or if you have a query with ESB Networks.

Bill calculation

Billing period

This is the timeframe of the electricity usage you are being billed for.

Meter reading

The meter readings used to calculate your bill will show your current and previous readings. These codes show which type of reading was used:

A: Actual read
E: Estimated read
C: Customer read

Calculation

This should be a clear calculation of the different items that give the final result.

Codes

Distribution group (DG)

This code identifies if you are an urban, rural or business customer.

Meter configuration (MC)

This code allows ESB Networks or your supplier see what type of meter you have.

Profile code

This indicates the type of usage profile you have.