DCP161 is here! – What you need to know

This will only effect you if you are exceeding your capacity limit. The change only relates to your large half hourly electricity supply and specifically the Authorised Supply Capacity (ASC) set by the network and it is likely that you may already be aware of this, if you have started to notice an excess capacity charge on your invoice in the past or we have highlighted it on your Positive Energy Pack.

Please see some key details below for your information:-

• Your ASC explained; when your electricity supply was originally installed, the electrical design engineers will have calculated the electricity demand appropriate for the size of the building and associated equipment installed. This will have been set and agreed with your electrical distributors, who are ensuring the required electricity supply is available across the grid. Breaching your ASC puts your network at risk which can be dangerous and could result in electrical outages, so understandably OFGEM want to deter sites from exceeding their ASC’s wherever possible.

• What happens currently? At present, excess capacity charges are passed through at a very similar rate to that contracted, and so financially the end user is not really penalised for breaching their ASC.

• What will happen under DCP 161? We believe that most suppliers will charge more than double the current rate for any excess capacity charges.

• Don’t panic; We are well aware that many other consultants are using this as part of their aggressive sales tactics and trying to scaremonger but as always, we are looking out for you and have this in hand.

• Next steps; We want to reassure you that we are well aware of the requirements, and as stated back in February 2017 we have been proactively analysing this for you therefore we will be writing separately to customers who will see a budgetary implication from DCP161 come April as well as ones who don’t so everyone has complete peace of mind. We’ll go through your options, provide you with the relevant figures and our recommendations to ensure you don’t pay a penny more than you need to.

We hope this update provides you with the required information at this stage, however if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us.