Billing categories: Telecommunications | Utilities | Internet Services | Personal / Business Services

:: Examples of Utility Billing:

Tags: Billing, Utility, Water, Gas, Electricity, Steam

Water Retailer

Water retailers are the public face to a city's water distribution (and sewerage disposal) infrastructure. They can be corporatised government entities, or corporations that may be traded publicly. Since water is an essential service, their operations and pricing are often monitored by a government Utility Regulator that determines whether their obligations are being met.

Where multiple water retailers provide services to a city, a customer's retailer is often determined by their geography. Water retailers' customer relationships are usually not contestable and subject to churn between providers.

Sewerage disposal can be measured based on a customer's actual clean water consumption (allowing for water used outside the home on gardens etc.), or on winter consumption levels (in climates that experience snow and hence little is used outside the home).

Examples of water retailers include 'South East Water' in Melbourne, Australia, and 'Thames Water' in the UK.

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Gas Retailer

In a similar way to water retailers, gas retailers are the public face of the gas distribution network into businesses and residential homes. The gas 'generation' (extraction / importing) that feeds the gas distribution network is common to all end-users. In larger cities (e.g. Melbourne, Australia), a customer's gas retailer can be determined initially by geography. If the customer relationship is opened up to competition, gas retailers may then win customers from other locations within a city (and lose customers to other retailers within their own historic geography).

Contestability of the customer relationship does not change the pipe or meter infrastructure. Rather the customer's retailer answers the customer's queries and problems, produces their bills, and assists with any additional services (such as plumbing and appliance maintenance).

Examples of gas retailers include 'Origin Energy' who are one of a number of gas retailers competing in Melbourne (Australia), and 'AGL' who operate in Melbourne and other states of Australia.

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Electricity Retailer

Electricity retailers have many of the same characteristics of gas retailers. The networks that they front are more complex being composed of generation, (long distance) transmission, and (local) distribution. They differ in that the commodity that they 'sell' cannot be stored and costs different amounts at different times of the day, week and year.

Residential / small business sales of electricity can be based on 'off peak' and 'regular' measurements. Off-peak tariffs are cheaper and apply at night when fewer people need electricity - often it is used to heat residential hot water. Regular tariffs are applied during the day when demand is higher and electricity is more expensive. During peak demand periods, the cost of electricity is much higher, though the end-consumer is isolated from these fluctuations by charges that apply an 'average' price (regardless of the true cost of the consumed electricity).

Examples of electricity retailers include both 'Origin Energy' and 'AGL (who are also Gas Retailers (in Melbourne)).

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Steam heating / cooling

Steam is produced centrally and piped to customers who use it to heat or cool their premises. Using centrally generated steam avoids customers purchasing and maintaining their own equipment. An example of a steam provider is conEdison in New York.

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