Few lines on a UK energy bill cause more complaint than the standing charge. It is not a tax, it is not optional for most tariffs, and it is paid even when a home is empty. Here is the honest short answer to the questions readers ask us most about it.
What is the standing charge?
It is a fixed daily fee, in pence per day, that your supplier charges for keeping you connected to the gas and electricity networks. You pay it for every day on the tariff, including days you use no gas or electricity at all. There is one for electricity and, if you are a dual-fuel customer, a separate one for gas.
What does it actually pay for?
According to Ofgem’s own explainer, the standing charge covers the fixed costs of supplying your home: maintaining the pipes and wires that reach your property, metering, the cost of taking on customers from suppliers that have failed, and a share of various government policy schemes. Those costs do not change much with how much energy you use, so they are charged as a flat daily rate rather than per kWh.
Is the standing charge the same everywhere?
No. Standing charges vary by region because the fixed costs of the network vary by region: how far electricity has to travel, how dense the local population is, what the previous supplier-of-last-resort events have cost. That is why your friend 100 miles away may have a different daily charge, even on a tariff with the same brand name.
Is it capped?
Yes, for default and standard variable tariffs. Ofgem’s price cap sets a maximum unit rate and a maximum daily standing charge for each region. The cap is reviewed quarterly, so the actual pence figure changes; to see the current amounts for your area, check the cap page on the Ofgem site rather than relying on a figure in a news article from last year. Fixed tariffs can set any standing charge agreed in the contract; they are not covered by the cap.
Can I avoid paying it?
Only in narrow circumstances. A handful of suppliers offer tariffs with no standing charge, usually by charging a higher unit rate instead. Whether a zero-standing-charge tariff saves you money depends almost entirely on how much energy you use: a low-use home can benefit, a high-use home usually pays more over the year. You cannot simply refuse to pay it on a standard tariff.
For a holiday home or a second property that is empty much of the year, the daily standing charge is often the largest part of the bill. In that case, the choice is between a no-standing-charge tariff (where you accept higher unit rates when you do use the property) and disconnection, which carries its own costs and is usually only worth doing if the home will be empty for years.
Why did my standing charge go up?
Standing charges have risen sharply in recent years because several costs that used to sit inside the unit rate have been shifted onto the daily charge. The largest is the cost to industry of taking on customers from suppliers that failed during the wholesale price shock of 2021 and 2022. Network charges have also risen. The cap level reflects those costs; a lower unit rate in a particular period does not usually mean a lower standing charge.
The standing charge is the subject of an open policy debate. Lobby groups want it moved back inside unit rates. For now, every default tariff carries one.
Prepayment meters and the standing charge
If you have a traditional or smart prepayment meter, the standing charge still accrues each day. On most prepayment setups it is deducted from your credit automatically, which is why a meter can go into emergency credit even when you have not used any energy for a few weeks. If you are going away for a long period, top up before you go.
What to do if the number on your bill looks wrong
Compare the daily charge on the bill with the figure on your tariff summary. The two should match. If they do not, ask your supplier for a corrected bill. If the daily rate does match, but it is now higher than the regional cap you see on the Ofgem page, check that your tariff is actually a default or standard variable one — fixed tariffs are not capped.
If you are struggling to cover the bill because the standing charge takes a large share of what you can pay, speak to your supplier first; they must by law help customers in difficulty. Citizens Advice also runs a free energy helpline.
In short
The standing charge is a fee for being connected. It is on every bill, it varies by region, it is capped for default tariffs, and it is not usually avoidable without accepting a higher unit rate instead. It is not a hidden fee: it is on the front page of the bill. Once you know which number it is, the rest of the bill reads much more easily.