Most businesses overpay for electricity without knowing it. Your kVA contracted capacity—that overlooked figure on your energy bill—silently determines whether you enjoy standard rates or face crippling penalties. Yet the measurement method for peak demand remains deliberately obscure to most. Learn what warning signs precede expensive mistakes and how the UK’s maximum import capacity rules actually work in your favour.
What Is Maximum Import Capacity and Why It Matters to Your Bottom Line?
When you flip on the lights at your business, you’re pulling electricity from the grid through a connection that’s got limits—and if you don’t grasp those limits, they can cost you serious money. Your Maximum Import Capacity (MIC) is the maximum electricity your site can draw at any given moment, measured in kilovolt-amps (kVA).
Think of it like a water pipe: exceed its capacity, and you’ve got problems. Your distribution network operator guarantees you can draw power up to your agreed MIC level. Your MIC value is typically set out in your Connection Agreement, Distribution Connection Agreement, or Bilateral Connection Agreement depending on your supply arrangement.
Here’s where it matters financially: you’re charged monthly based on your MIC, and exceeding it triggers penalty charges reaching £450/MWh. Understanding your MIC is essential for implementing energy management strategies that align your power consumption with your actual business needs. Conducting regular energy audits helps identify consumption patterns and prevents unexpected overage situations.
Getting your MIC right protects your budget and keeps operations running smoothly. When you understand your actual power needs versus what you’re paying for, you can avoid those unexpected overage fees that eat into your profits. It’s about matching your capacity to your reality, so you’re not throwing money away on penalties or paying for more power than you genuinely require.
Find Your Maximum Import Capacity (kVA) on Your Bill
Finding your kVA on your business electricity bill is straightforward once you know where to look—it’ll be listed as “Available Supply Charge” or “Supply Capacity” alongside your capacity charges.
Your meter type matters here: if you’ve got a half-hourly meter, you’ll spot the Maximum Import Capacity clearly itemised in kVA units, but older metres might require you to contact your supplier directly.
Verifying this number with your energy provider takes just one quick call and guarantees you’re working with accurate figures for any cost analysis. Understanding your MIC helps enable bill validation processes that can catch supplier errors or overcharges during your energy switching review. Accurate capacity data also supports energy efficiency upgrades that optimise your electrical systems and reduce operational costs. You can also confirm your MIC—sometimes called ASC or MPR—by contacting your metre operator or regional DNO if your supplier cannot provide immediate confirmation.
Locating kVA On Bills
Your kVA figure—the maximum amount of power your business can draw from the grid—is hiding somewhere on your electricity bill, and it’s worth tracking down. Look for it in your supply details section, typically near your MPAN number and DNO information. You’ll find the kVA expressed as a standardised number: 69 kVA, 200 kVA, or 370 kVA, for example.
If you’ve got a half-hourly metre, check for capacity charges listed separately from your consumption charges. The calculation breakdown shows your kVA multiplied by the daily unit rate in British Pounds and the number of billing days. Understanding your kVA capacity is essential for operational efficiency and managing your energy costs effectively. Real-time energy monitoring through smart metres enables you to track whether your actual demand aligns with your contracted capacity.
Can’t spot it on your bill? Contact your energy supplier’s customer services—they’ll confirm your Maximum Import Capacity instantly from your account records. Your Connection Agreement will also contain the agreed MIC value between you and your network operator.
Understanding Meter Types
Once you’ve located your kVA figure on your bill, the next step is grasping how it got there—and that story starts with your meter type.
Your meter type determines how your electricity consumption’s recorded and billed. Think of it as the foundation that everything else is built on. Let’s walk through what you’re actually working with:
Half-hourly meters are mandatory if your business uses 100 kW or more. They’re quite thorough—capturing your highest 30-minute consumption across 48 daily intervals. This gives suppliers a detailed picture of when you’re using the most power.
Once they’ve got that data, maximum demand tracking kicks in. This records your peak usage within any 30-minute window throughout the entire year. It’s essentially identifying that single moment when your business pulled the most electricity.
From there, load profile analysis comes into play. Rather than just looking at your peaks, this method examines your operating hours and usage patterns to establish what capacity levels actually make sense for your business. It’s less about hitting the absolute maximum and more about what you genuinely need day-to-day. Advanced monitoring systems can help refine this analysis by providing real-time insights into your consumption trends. Implementing energy efficiency solutions alongside accurate load profiling ensures your business operates at optimal capacity whilst minimising unnecessary charges. Correct MIC prevents you from overpaying on electricity bills by avoiding unnecessary PSO levy and capacity charges.
Finally, MIC determination wraps everything together. This uses your 12-month historical data from suppliers to set your contracted power limit. It’s the figure that ultimately determines your billing bracket.
Understanding how your meter type works reveals exactly why you’re paying what you’re paying and where genuine optimisation opportunities exist for your business.
Verifying With Your Supplier
Verifying With Your Supplier
The most straightforward way to find your kVA figure is to grab your latest business electricity bill and look for a line item labelled “Maximum Import Capacity” or “Capacity Charge”—you’ll usually find it separated from your actual energy consumption charges.
Your supplier’s customer service team can clarify any confusion about these figures. They’ll explain how your capacity charge gets calculated: your kVA amount multiplied by the daily rate in pounds and number of billing days.
For a deeper understanding, it’s worth contacting your regional Distribution Network Operator. You’ll find their contact details on your statement. They maintain the official records of your capacity agreement and can provide comprehensive information about your specific setup. The DNO can also help you understand whether your MIC matches your actual demand patterns and identify opportunities for energy consumption tracking to optimise your capacity needs. Many organisations leverage risk management services to ensure their capacity agreements align with business objectives and regulatory requirements.
If you’re working with an energy broker, they can request this information using a Letter of Authority. This approach saves you considerable effort whilst ensuring the accuracy of what you receive.
Capacity Charges: What Your Monthly Bill Really Costs
When you look at your monthly electricity bill, you’ll likely spot a charge that seems mysterious—one that’s the same every month regardless of how much energy you actually use.
Spot that mysterious charge on your monthly bill? It’s the same every month, regardless of your actual energy use.
That’s your capacity charge. It’s what you pay the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for reserving dedicated power on your local grid. Think of it like renting a guaranteed parking space—you pay whether you park there or not.
Your agreed Maximum Import Capacity, measured in kVA, gets multiplied by the daily rate. That total then multiplies by the number of days in your billing month.
The result appears as a fixed line item on your invoice in British Pounds, and you’ll pay this charge consistently, regardless of how much energy you actually consume.
Understanding how this works helps you refine your energy strategy effectively. Since the charge remains constant month to month, it becomes easier to predict your baseline costs and identify where you might genuinely reduce your bills through smarter usage patterns.
Excess Demand Penalties: How Much Do They Cost?
Now that you grasp your baseline capacity charges, here’s what happens when you exceed them. Your excess demand penalties can skyrocket to three times the standard rate, depending on your location and voltage level. Imagine this: you’re charged 5.79p/kVA/day for excess usage instead of the standard 2.6p/kVA/day—that’s a staggering 132% increase.
The penalty structure works quite straightforwardly. You take your Maximum Demand, subtract your Maximum Import Capacity, then multiply that excess kVA by your regional penalty rate. Let’s say you’ve got a 40 kVA overage at 6.5p/kVA/day—that’ll cost you roughly £78 monthly. These charges build up rapidly, and you’re looking at potentially an extra 2% or more added to your annual bill.
Here’s where it gets interesting though: regional variations mean identical overages cost differently across UK postcodes. Your specific DNO rates really do matter, so it’s worth taking time to understand what applies to your area.
Calculate Your Peak Demand: The Formula for Right-Sizing Capacity
Getting your peak demand calculation right is the difference between paying fair charges and getting hit with surprise penalties.
Follow these four steps to nail your capacity sizing:
- Determine your demand interval – identify whether your metre records 15-minute, 30-minute, or hourly usage periods
- Find your peak demand – locate the highest kW or kVA used during any single interval across your billing cycle
- Check your utility rate – confirm the charge per kW, typically expressed in pounds per unit
- Calculate the charge – multiply peak demand by rate using this formula: Demand Charge = Peak Demand (kW) × Rate (£/kW)
Let’s walk through a practical example. If you’re drawing 50 kW at peak and your rate is £8/kW, you’ll pay £400 monthly.
When you understand this calculation, you’re only paying for what you actually use rather than overpaying for capacity sitting idle.
Scaling Up or Down: Your Capacity Adjustment Playbook
Once you’ve nailed your peak demand calculations, you’ll face the real decision: should you shrink your capacity to cut costs, or expand it to handle growing business needs?
You can decrease your KVA allocation to lower monthly charges, but you’re limited to one major adjustment annually, so timing matters. If your business is scaling up, you’ll need an expansion strategy that accounts for DNO processing timelines and potential upgrade costs before you hit capacity constraints.
Decreasing Capacity: Cost Benefits
Beyond simply paying for the energy you use, you’re also paying for the capacity to access it—think of it like renting a pipe’s width rather than just the water flowing through it. Reducing your KVA capacity can dramatically lower these fixed charges, especially if your business has changed or grown differently than expected.
Your benefits start with lower standing charges that appear on every bill regardless of usage. You’ll also see reduced demand charges tied to your maximum capacity requirements. When you’re not using what you’re paying for, that’s money unnecessarily leaving your business. Better cash flow follows naturally when you eliminate these infrastructure fees, and your margins improve when capacity actually matches your operational needs.
Working with Omnium, you’ll analyse your real peak demand patterns together. If you’re consistently using only 60% of available capacity, scaling down makes genuine financial sense. This straightforward adjustment puts money back into your business without sacrificing the operational capability you genuinely need.
Increasing Demand: Expansion Strategy
As your business grows, your energy needs grow with it—and that’s when scaling up your KVA capacity becomes essential. You’ll want to evaluate both your current power requirements and projected future demands when planning capacity increases.
Network operators review your half-hourly meter data over 12 months to establish baseline demand patterns. This historical data guarantees your agreed capacity never falls below actual electricity usage. It’s a forward-looking strategy that prevents frequent, unsettling adjustments down the road.
When you’re ready to expand, submit your additional load application to your distribution network operator. You’ll need to provide your company details, site address, MPAN, existing capacity, and the proposed capacity figures you’re aiming for. If you’re working with an energy broker, they’ll need a Letter of Authority to handle this process on your behalf. By planning ahead and getting everything in order, you protect your operations from unexpected disruptions and ensure your power supply matches your growing business needs.
Annual Adjustment Limitations
You’re allowed to adjust your KVA capacity just once every 12 months, which means you’ve got to think strategically about when and how you make changes.
This annual window requires careful planning. You can’t simply request adjustments whenever you want—you’re locked into that single opportunity per year. Missing it means waiting another full 12 months.
To make the most of your adjustment window, start by documenting your maximum demand patterns over several months. This gives you solid evidence to back up your request.
Rather than spreading requests across multiple years, consolidate all your needs into one adjustment. This approach works particularly well when you’re planning equipment changes, whether that’s adding new systems or removing old ones—timing these around your adjustment deadline keeps everything coordinated.
It’s also worth building in a realistic buffer above your peak consumption. This extra capacity protects you from exceeding your limits down the line and helps you avoid penalties or operational disruptions that could cost you significant amounts in British Pounds.
Smart planning keeps you ahead of these issues and ensures your operations run smoothly throughout the year.
Six Capacity Management Errors That Cost Thousands
Many businesses stumble over capacity management without realising it’s costing them thousands each year. You might be paying for unused KVA capacity, miscalculating your actual import needs, or ignoring peak demand patterns.
Here’s where things often go wrong: you’re not monitoring real-time energy usage, or your contracts don’t align with seasonal variations. Think about it—if you haven’t carried out proper site surveys, you won’t grasp your equipment’s true capacity. That’s a blind spot that directly impacts your bottom line.
Then there’s the contract side. Most businesses overlook their annual adjustment opportunities, which means they’re locked into outdated agreements that no longer reflect what they actually need. On top of that, if you’re not reviewing your capacity allocation regularly, you’re essentially leaving money on the table.
The good news? Smart businesses prevent these errors through continuous monitoring, accurate audits, and strategic contract reviews. Once you get capacity management right, it stops being a hidden cost drain and becomes a genuine competitive advantage—something that actually works for your business rather than against it.
