Energy Jargon
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What is the gas year? The gas year runs from 01 October to 30 September each year. Changes in capacity levels and in capacity costs, as approved by the Commission for Energy Regulation, come into effect from the start of the gas year. What is my SPRN? SPRN stands for Supply Point Registration Number. This is your unique Customer number and will be in top left hand corner of your bill. What is my GPRN? GPRN stands for Gas Point Registration Number. In addition to your SPRN every meter has a unique 7 digit number used to identify a gas meter connected to the gas network. What is Average Calorific Value? The Calorific Value measures the heating power from each cubic metre of gas and is measured in joules. Because no cubic metre of gas has exactly the same composition, the Average Calorific Value is calculated based on your monthly gas usage. What are Transportation Charges? Transportation charges are the cost of getting the gas from plants where the gas is processed to each Customer’s meter. The transportation charge is made up of 2 elements:
What is the Transmission Charge and how is it calculated? The Transmission Charge is the charge in transporting gas through high pressure pipelines from the processing plants to the outskirts of urban areas. This is calculated using the Maximum Daily Quantity (MDQ) Maximum Daily Quantity (MDQ) The Maximum Daily Quantity is a measure of daily usage, measured in kilo watt hours. At the start of a contract this quantity and a monthly charge are agreed with the transmission connected Customer. |
"Our objective is to demystify gas charges by providing transparent pricing and bills that are jargon free" | |
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What is the Distribution Charge and how is it calculated? Because only a handful of very high gas users connect directly to the transmission pipes, distribution pipes connect end users to their closest transmission pipe. The cost for sending gas through these pipes is a supply point distribution charge. This is calculated using SPC (Supply Point Capacity). Supply Point Capacity (SPC) To make sure that enough gas is available for our Customers we calculate your Supply Point Capacity (SPC), which is the maximum amount of gas your business will use in a single day. This calculation is based on your historical gas usage taking your highest day of gas consumption over the previous year. If you know in advance that you are going to increase usage on your previous year we can increase your Supply Point Capacity to reflect that. What does FVT mean? FVT stands for Fuel Variation Tariff which is a pricing structure used by Bord Gáis Energy Supply. Vayu has 3 packages available to Customers who are currently part of this pricing structure - Vayu Fixed, Vayu Tracker and Vayu Freedom. For more information on these, please click here What does NDM mean? NDM stands for Non Daily Meter. These are Customers who don’t have their meters read on a daily basis. Usually reads are taken monthly. What is Shrinkage? As gas is transported through the network a certain amount of this is absorbed into the pipes. Shrinkage is the charge that covers the amount of gas absorbed through this process. It’s a standard industry charge that changes every month, we use the most up to date shrinkage price at the time of billing and pass the cost back directly to you. |
What is a Therm? Gas is bought and sold on the wholesale market in therms. A therm is the unit of energy it takes to heat 25,180 litres of water by 1 degree Celsius. What is a kWh? Like all Irish gas suppliers we charge our Customers in kilo watt hours. A kilo watt hour is the unit of energy it takes to use up 1,000 watts in an hour. Another way of looking at a kilo watt hour is that it’s the amount of energy it takes to run a dishwasher through 2 full cycles, listen to 15 CDs or microwave 20 meals. If you want to know the science bit, a kilo watt hour is equivalent to 3.6 mega joules. To convert from therms to kilo watt hours we use the following standard formula: 1 Therm = 29.3071kWh. | |
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To help you with budgeting we recommend you allow about 1% of your annual gas bill for shrinkage costs. |