Help & Advice
Energy price cap and meter reading

Energy price cap and meter reading

Name: Plymouth Energy Community (PEC)
Price range: $

The Energy Price Cap is reviewed four times a year. To avoid being overcharged, its a good idea to submit a meter reading during the week that the price cap is changed.

Electric meter displaying usage reading.

The Energy Price Cap is the maximum amount energy suppliers can charge you for each unit of energy and standing charge if you're on a standard variable tariff. It is reviewed by energy regulator OFGEM every three months.

The Price Cap is based on typical household energy use - if you use more, you will be charged more.

From the 1st of April 2026, the Price Cap decreased by 6.7%, compared to the Cap last set in January 2026.

The bill for an "average home" with both gas and electricity, that pays for their energy by direct debit, was £1,758 a year for Q1 of 2026 (January to March inclusive). This has gone down to £1,641 a year, a decrease of about £117 a year. This is the first decrease since July 2025. All domestic UK energy customers (for gas and electricity) will also see a further drop on the costs for their Unit Rates and Standing Charges from 1st April. This is for customers on any payment method - Credit or Pay as you Go, and any tariff type (fixed or standard), due to the Government changing the way it funds it's green schemes such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). You can read more about this here.

Submit a meter reading to avoid being overcharged

To avoid being charged more than you should, it's a good idea to give a meter reading to your supplier around the time of each Price Cap change to avoid any dispute over what you used before and after prices changed. You can still do it for a few days after, and some suppliers may even let you provide backdated readings after the Price Cap changes.

We recommend you keep a photo or video of your meter reading for your own records in case of a dispute.

Is this relevant to me?

You are covered by the Price Cap if you are on the Standard Variable Tariff with your supplier and pay for your electricity and gas by the following methods:

Direct Debit (the cheapest way to pay for your energy)
Paying on receipt of a bill (paying on receipt of a bill usually has slightly higher tariff rates than direct debit)
Prepayment meter

If you have a Smart Meter that is working correctly, you don't need to do anything. (If your bills show "actual" or "A" reads, this means your smart meter is sending automated reads and it working correctly. If your bill shows "estimated" or "E" reads, this may mean your smart meter has stopped communicating with your supplier, and you should contact them with a manual reading as soon as possible. The supplier may need to send an engineer to your home, or may be able to fix the communication issues remotely.

How to take a meter reading:

The simplest way is to take a picture of your meters, so you have the readings to hand. Then log in to your online account and enter the readings.

Many suppliers also let you send readings via text message, or through mobile apps such as WhatsApp. You can also call your supplier, these are usually automated telephone lines so you can give your readings without having to join a queue.