Frequently asked questions

I don’t understand how this EquiGas and EquiPower thing works

Most energy supply companies charge pre-payment meter customers at a higher rate than other customers, as there’s more effort involved to supply and look after the meters. And most other companies also offer deals that mean people are charged less if they use a lot of energy, or when they commit to paying in a particular way. This means people are often paying a lower rate because they spend more. The market is effectively rewarding those who have more money to spend in the first place.

EquiGas and EquiPower, however, even out the different expenses for each payment method between all our customers – regardless of how they choose to pay – and as a result, nobody is penalised because of his or her budget or circumstances, or by how much gas they choose to buy. Everybody pays at the same fair rate and there are no standing charges.

For a more detailed explanation of this, look at How EquiGas prices work.

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How 'green' is EquiPower?

While we make no 'green' claims for EquiPower, our supply partners Scottish & Southern Energy can in fact claim to be the UK’s leading generator of renewable energy. S&SE own and operate nearly half of the UK’s total renewable generation capacity, which includes hydroelectric generation, the UK’s largest wind farm and one of the UK’s largest biomass/CHP units. You can find more information on this at Our Supply partners.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to offset the CO₂ emitted in the production of the energy supplied to your own home, look at our EquiClimate service.

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What are the bill payment options available to me with EquiGas and EquiPower?

As an Ebico customer you can choose to pay through one of five methods:

• pay as you go with a pre-payment meter
• set up a weekly cash budgeting plan at your Post Office
• pay your bills quarterly
• set up a Direct Debit payment via your bank
• pay online at Southern Electric’s billing facility.

Remember that the same low rate for gas and electricity applies, whichever payment method you choose.

For any queries about payment options and help understanding bills, customers can call the Ebico help desk at S&SE at any time on 080 096 6344.

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What telephone support will I have?

Our partners S&SE have a customer support phone line, and a phone service for customers to report their own meter reads, billing enquiry service and customer service line. The details of these are all included in the welcome pack you receive when you apply for EquiGas or EquiPower.

Customers can also the Ebico help desk at S&SE at any time on 0800 096 6344. This and other helpful contact numbers can all be found on our Useful contacts page.

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Who is my supply contract with?

Ebico work in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy (&SE) as our licensed supplier. Your power will actually be supplied by one of S&SE’s operating companies, Southern Electric, SWALEC or Scottish HydroElectric, depending on where you live. If you need to contact one of these companies, use the number for the Ebico desk at Scottish and Southern: 0800 096 6344.

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You say that there’s no standing charge – but my pre-payment meter shows one. I'm also being charged more than your advertised energy rate. What's going on?

Your pre-payment meter was likely designed before customers were enabled by law to buy their electricity from whichever supplier they chose. These meters were made to charge one of only a few different energy (kWh) rates. To deal with this, Ebico will use your meter at the rate closest to our own rate, and we will then credit you with the difference. Some meters also have a standing charge system built in. If we can't remove this, we’ll credit that to the customer too. We’re still looking for ways to make this process less confusing, but be assured that you are still getting your gas and electricity at the same fair and cheaper rate.

There is more detail on this and other issues to do with bills at Understanding your bill, and we also have a whole page of further information on pre-payment meters.

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My bill says that I'm getting a discount for paying by Direct Debit - but I thought the whole point was that everyone paid the same on EquiGas and EquiPower?

Don’t worry – everybody still is! Some of our partner companies’ billing systems are computerised and automatically deduct a certain percentage for paying by direct debit. To balance this out, Ebico will add the same percentage on to the rate first. This means that you are still getting your gas or electricity at the same equitable rate as everyone else. An example of how this works is given on our Understanding your bill page.

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Can I use you to supply my business premises?

We only supply EquiGas and EquiPower to domestic (i.e. residential) premises. However, if you’re looking for a better electricity deal for your business or organisation, call the EquiGas & EquiPower Sales Line because we can help: 0800 458 7689

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Why does the EquiPower tariff vary regionally whereas EquiGas does not?

Until recently, National Grid owned all the gas pipes in Great Britain. Even though the cost of looking after these pipes varied between different parts of Britain, National Grid were able to even out these differences across the whole of their network. As a result, the difference in price that a gas supply company was charged for transporting gas from the North Sea to a customer in, say, Wiltshire was little more than would be charged for transporting it to a customer in Scotland. Gas supply companies generally averaged out these relatively modest price differences so that customers don’t see them. However, recently National Grid sold some of the regional gas distribution systems to independent companies. The result of this the ability of National Grid to do this evening-out has reduced and regional variations are increasing. It is likely that more supply companies will soon start charging different prices for gas in different parts of the country. This is not, currently, the case with EquiGas.

National Grid also owns the high voltage supergrid that connects all the large power stations in England and Wales (SP and S&SE own them in Scotland).

But it does not own the lower voltage wires that bring electricity from the supergrid to your door. Several different companies own these regional ‘distribution’ companies, and each of these regional companies face different costs. In Scotland, Wales and the Southwest, for example, the mainly rural environment means connecting many remote villages with long lengths of inefficient low voltage overhead wires. The distribution of these companies’ ‘assets’ (wires, poles, transformers, etc) across remote rural areas means that maintenance costs are higher.

Because the companies that own these regional distribution companies are independent, there can be no ‘smoothing’ of costs. As a result, a supply company bringing power to a customer’s door in Devon or Wales will be charged significantly more than for bringing power to a house in Birmingham – where the ‘assets’ are much closer together and cheaper to maintain.

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Are EquiGas and EquiPower only available to people on low incomes or the elderly?

EquiGas and EquiPower are available to all domestic gas or electricity customers in England, Scotland and Wales.

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Do EquiGas and EquiPower have a maximum number of customers?

No. As many consumers as wish can become customers of EquiGas and/or EquiPower. Our tariff structures do have built into them assumptions as to the proportions of the various payment options that our customers will choose. However, these are robust to some quite extreme variations without requiring tariff adjustment.

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You're assuming pre-payment meter customers are on low incomes. But owners of second homes and students in digs also use pre-payment meters, and persistent non-payers are forced to use them.

There is quite a good correlation between household income and method of utility bill payment, though clearly in some situations our tariffs will be attractive to customers on higher incomes who also use pre-payment meters for different reasons.

However, our flat rate is not the only way we help those on low incomes. We also don't levy a standing charge on any of our customers. And while a number of other utility companies have followed suit in this respect, they actually replicate the effect of the standing charge by imposing a much higher unit rate on the customers' first units of gas/electricity. This penalises those who use relatively small quantities of gas/electricity – and many low income households fall into this category – just as much as the standing charge.

Rather than making value judgements about our customers, we believe that it is sufficient to offer a tariff that very many low-income households will find cuts the cost of heating and lighting their homes.

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How do I find out which electricity distribution region I’m in?

On the front or back of your electricity bill is a number that looks something like this. It‘s called a Meter Point Administration Number (MPAN) or Supply Number. The top row of numbers gives information on what rates and meter type you use. The bottom numbers are unique to where you live. The first two of these digits (circled here) indicate which distribution company maintain your energy supply. You can match these two numbers to one of the 14 regions on the map below. This is the area you need to choose on the compare your rates page.

• 10  Eastern England
• 11  East Midlands Electricity
• 12  London Electricity
• 13  Merseyside and Northern Wales
• 14  West Midlands
• 15  North Eastern England
• 16  North Western England
• 17  Northern Scotland
• 18  Southern Scotland
• 19  South Eastern England
• 20  Southern England
• 21  Southern Wales
• 22  South Western England
• 23  Yorkshire

If you want to contact any of these companies, their phone numbers are listed on the electricity Emergency action page.

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