How do I read my statement?

We’ve worked hard to make our statements as simple as possible. However, we have to include certain information, some of which can be quite hard to understand.

To help you find the information you need, we’ve created a quick guide that explains the key parts of your statement. 

Basic account information

At the top, the statement shows some basic information - your People’s Energy account number, your statement number and your statement period, which tells you the dates for which you’re being charged.

Your current charges and account balance

The first part of the statement outlines the energy that you’ve used since your last statement, and the payment that we’ll take from your bank account.

Your current account balance

Your current account balance shows whether you have built up credit, or are in debit. 

If your account is in credit, it means that you've paid for more energy than you've used, and your account will show a positive balance. If your account is in debit, it means you've used more energy than you've paid for, and your account will show as a negative balance.

Find out more about credit and debit on your account here.

Your monthly Direct Debit charge

This is the amount you’ll pay by Direct Debit this month, and the date when we’ll take the payment from your account.

Account summary

The account summary shows how we’ve worked out your account balance for the current statement period. It includes:

• Previous account balance. How much your account balance was in debit or credit last month, before you paid.
• Payment received. The amount you paid us since your last statement – thank you!
• Credits/adjustments. Any credits that we have refunded to your account, or other adjustments. We make adjustments when energy usage that we’ve billed you for in the past is different to what you’ve actually used. For example, this happens if we have to estimate your bill because we didn’t have your current meter readings. In this instance, we’ll either credit you some money, or add a charge to cover any additional usage.

Together, these all add up to a total Balance Brought Forward. This is your account balance, before we add on any charges for the current month.

Charges this month

Your statement also breaks down your total energy usage for the month. It outlines how much you paid for gas, and how much you paid for electricity, along with the cost of VAT. If we don’t have a recent meter reading, you’ll see an estimate of how much gas and electricity we think you’ve used.

Adding together your Balance Brought Forward and your energy charges for the month gives you your current account balance.

Details of your annual and monthly gas and electricity usage

The second part of your statement shows a more detailed breakdown of your electricity and gas usage. This includes:

• The name of your tariff, and the end date of your contract if you’re on one of our fixed-rate tariffs
• Your payment method
• An estimate of how much gas and electricity we think you’ll use in a year
• Your meter readings, and whether these are estimated, done by the industry, or done by you. An industry reading is a reading that’s been given to us by your previous supplier, or taken by a meter reader who’s visited your property
• Unique numbers that identify your gas and electricity meters. For electricity this is MPAN, or meter point administration number. For gas, this is MPRN, or meter point reference number
• Current gas and electricity prices, and standing charges. A standing charge is a fixed daily amount you pay for your gas and electricity. Standing charges are used to cover the costs of supplying energy to your home. Think of it like the line rental you pay on your landline phone connection, with your calls - or your energy use - added on as extra
• The amount of gas and electricity you’ve used over the past month, in kilowatt-hours
• An explanation of how we work out your gas usage. This is a little more complicated than calculating electricity usage, as we need to convert a unit of measurement known as calorific values into kilowatt-hours

For any further questions about your energy statement, or if you're worried about how much you owe us, then you can get in touch with our Member ServicesTeam.