Ratchets

From October to May, we’ll keep a close eye on your usage so you don’t get caught out. Here’s how it works:

• Early alerts: If your site uses 95% or more of your agreed DMSOQ, your Client Relationship Manager will email you the next day (D+1) to notify you that you’re close to the limit.
• Provisional notices: If you exceed your DMSOQ, we’ll receive a Provisional Ratchet Notification and share the details with you straight away.
• Time to act: If you receive a notification from us and the consumption reflected is correct, the charge will be passed through to you within 3 months. If you believe the charge to be incorrect, you’ll have until the date on the notification to challenge the consumption, so please get in touch quickly to discuss your usage.
• Working with you: Once you contact us, we will investigate and your Client Relationship Manager will relay the solution. Important: If we can’t reach you and there’s no response before the deadline, a ratchet penalty may still be raised and invoiced within three months.

Class 1 ratchet penalties are calculated by comparing the actual capacity used (UDQO) with the relevant capacity transportation charges based on your agreed capacity (DMSOQ). The difference is then doubled, creating the ratchet charge – a cost designed to discourage repeated overuse.

If your DMSOQ is breached, it will automatically reset to a higher level for the remainder of the ratchet season, up to your Provisional Maximum Supply Capacity (PMSOQ). We can calculate an indicative PMSOQ for you, or confirm it with industry partners, such as Xoserve or the Network, if required (note: confirmation may take longer).

Our Ratchet Notification Service runs throughout winter, alerting you if you’re close to reaching or exceeding your DMSOQ. This gives you time to review and adjust before any penalties apply.

Remember: your DMSOQ can only be increased between October and January. If you anticipate higher consumption, please contact us as soon as possible so we can review and adjust it accordingly.

Class 1

• Applies to sites with an annual consumption (AQ) greater than 58,600,000 kWh.
• Daily reads are collected remotely by a Network datalogger.
• Reads are provided by a Daily Metered Service Provider (DMSP).

• Your site has been allocated by the Network as requiring Daily Meter Reads.
  
  

Class 2

• Applies to sites with an annual consumption (AQ) less than 58,600,000 kWh.
• Daily reads are collected remotely by an AMR (Automated Meter Reading) device.
• Your site is nominated as Class 2 by the Gas Shipper.

For Class 2 sites, penalties are based on the gap between your actual use (UDQO) and agreed capacity (DMSOQ). This value is multiplied by the number of days since the start of the gas year (1st October) up to the date of the breach, or since you last changed your DMSOQ. This reflects the smaller volumes consumed by Class 2 meters.

Unlike Class 1, where a penalty multiplier (x2) is applied, the Class 2 ratchet ensures that any additional capacity you’ve used is simply paid for over the relevant period. This means that anyone who under books capacity is charged fairly for what they actually use, and cannot benefit from under booking.

Note: For both Class 1 and Class 2, your daily capacity charge is based on the kWh booked from your Local Distribution Zone (LDZ) and is made up of three elements: the System Capacity Charge, Customer Capacity Charge, and Exit Capacity (ECN) Charge.