Recommendation 10 : “The supplier must specify the peak and off-peak hours on the bills sent to business customers”
0- Follow-up to the recommendation
1- Observation
The customer queried the usage of his restaurant, for which he had taken out a peak hours and off-peak hours electricity contract. The supplier’s bills do not comply with article 4 of the billing order (of 18 April 2012 on electricity or natural gas supply bills). These bills sent to business customers having a contract of up to 36 kVA must clearly state the peak and off-peak periods of the subscribed offer.
2- Mediation solution
The Mediation service noted that the billing matched the customer’s usage. Nevertheless, it transpires that the customer’s billed usage had increased due to an incorrect breakdown between peak hours and off-peak hours. The customer did not know at what time peak hours switch to off-peak hours: they are specified neither in his contract nor in his bills. If the bills had shown these times, he could have adjusted electricity usage in his restaurant accordingly.
3- Generic observation
Supplier ENGIE Clients Professionnels does not always specify on its electricity bills
sent to business customers, for contracts with subscribed power demand of up to 36 kVA, the peak and off-peak hours. The bills should therefore be modified accordingly to make them easier to understand for claimants.
If customers know the time of switchover from the peak to offpeak rate, they can adjust their usage accordingly.
4- Recommendation / Generic solution
Supplier ENGIE Clients Professionnels must clearly state the Peak/Off-peak hours on bills sent to its business customers contracts with subscribed power demand of up to 36 kVA, as stipulated in the ministerial order of 18 April 2012 on energy supply bills.