Half-Hourly Meters: 2020 Guide to Half Hourly Metering & Prices

Half-hourly meters are a type of electricity meter for businesses with higher consumption. Here are the key things you need to know about them.

What are Half-Hourly Meters?

Half-hourly meters are meters that can transmit metering readings every 30 minutes to the energy supplier through a data collector either direct or through an accredited third party.

These meters are used to ensure that the business pays the correct rates for the electricity at different times of the day. Half-hourly meters are also used to encourage businesses to use energy at times of low demand when energy is cheaper.

Half- hourly meters are also referred to as HH or 00 meters as this is the profile type identification number on the electricity meter’s MPAN (see above).

Who Can Have a Half-Hourly Meter?

Half-hourly meters must be installed by law in businesses that have a high peak usage of electricity. This is defined as these businesses who have a peak usage rate over 100kW.

Most commonly businesses that have half-hourly meters are medium to large scale industrial businesses, large offices, factories, warehouses, breweries, agricultural businesses, supermarkets and department stores.

From November 2015 all new business electricity contracts with a profile class of 05-08 had to switch to half-hourly meters as part of the P272 regulation brought in by Ofgem on behalf of the government.

Businesses that do not meet the requirement for the compulsory install of a half-hourly meter can still have a half-hourly meter installed. Some businesses do this to get a better handle on their energy usage and to get more accurate billing.

Requirements for Half-Hourly Meters

Businesses with half-hourly meters need to contract with a Meter Operator and Data Collector to enable the half-hourly meter to function properly and communicate with the energy supplier.

Most energy suppliers will supply these services to you, but they may not be the cheapest method of contracting these services and you can contract for these services directly with the service provider.

The Meter Operator will install and maintain your meter as well as ensure that it can communicate with the Data Collector.

The Data Collector’s role is to collect the data from the meter and send it to the contracted energy supplier which is done automatically.

Benefits of Half-Hourly Meters

The benefits of half- hourly meters are not necessarily all for the customer as they benefit the energy supplier and the transmission network as well. Benefits include:

Increase data on energy consumption
Accurate billing from the use of actual meter readings
Ability to charge different rates for energy used in high peak periods and lower demand periods
Encourages use of electricity at lower demand periods when charges are lower
Increased energy efficiency through knowledge of energy consumption
Reduced carbon emissions from energy consumption and improved environmental credentials

How Do I Know If I Have a Half-Hourly Meter?

You will be able to identify whether you have a half-hourly meter by looking at the MPAN number on your electricity meter.

The mage below shows an example MPAN and the profile type identifies the meter type, if it says 00 then the meter is half-hourly if it is a different number it is not a half-hourly meter.

Can I Switch Energy Suppliers If I Have a Half-Hourly Meter?

Yes, you can switch suppliers, however, not all business energy suppliers will offer half-hourly contracts and it can be more complex to switch energy suppliers as you may need a more detailed quote that requires a tailored quote based on your energy consumption patterns.

The energy suppliers that currently offer half-hourly meter contracts include:

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