All BES electricity contracts offer a free of charge smart meter to be installed at site where possible. A smart meter is designed to provide us with accurate, regular information about your energy usage, allowing BES to provide more accurate invoices and reduce the impacts of estimated invoices for long periods.

By entering into a contract with BES, you agree that you will allow us to install such a device (if one is not already installed). If we are unable to install a smart meter for technical reasons this will not alter the contractual agreement between us, however it will mean that if you wish to receive accurate monthly invoices, you will be required to provide the monthly reads to us via phone, email or through the MY ACCOUNT section of this website. 

Additionally, if a smart meter is not installed at the premises, we will instruct a pedestrian meter reader to attend your premises every six months throughout our agreement

There are a variety of meters, ranging from the complicated dial meter, to the smart meter detailed above. If you do have a dial meter, please follow the below instructions:

• Read ALL black dials from left to right

• Dials next to each other move in the opposite direction

• If the pointer falls in between numbers, always note the lower number

• If your pointer is between 9 and 0, 9 is classed as the lower number

• Ignore any Red Dials

To view more details on how to read a meter please click here to download our helpful PDF.

It is in your interest, if you do have a dial meter, to contact our customer services team as soon as possible to get an upgrade arranged for you. They can arrange this as well as help you read the meter itself if you are having any problems.

The smart meter will provide us with reads the majority of the time, however, if there are any issues connecting to it, you will find it is much easier to read. There should be a button on the meter which reads ‘select’ or ‘display’ which when pressed will take you through all the relevant information such as date, time and most importantly meter reading.

If the information is not clear, please contact our customer services department who can provide further guidance, if required.

This may be due to us not receiving a meter reading from you in time for our invoicing period. To ensure readings are utilised for your next invoice, please provide these on the nearest business day following the 8th of each month. The estimate will be based on previous usage on the account, as well as information provided to us from the electricity industry regarding your meter type/size.

On the rare occasions where a smart meter is installed and we have been unable to connect to the meter to obtain a reading, we will attempt to contact you in order to obtain a meter reading in the date range stated above. Please refer to ‘How do I read my meter?’ in the FAQ’s

The first port of call would be to contact the electricity distribution company for your area (the numbers for which can be found on the back of your BES electricity invoice, alternatively click here), to establish if there has been a power cut or any issues in or around your area you should be aware of. If they are unable to resolve the problem you should contact us during our opening hours (Monday – Friday 8:30-17:30) and we will arrange for an agent to visit your property as soon as possible.

We advise, that in these cases, the customer contacts a qualified electrician to have all appliances at site tested as this is often found to be the root of the problem. If the electrician finds no issues please contact our customer services team who will be able to investigate this for you.

BES (under the agreement of the customer and at a cost of £120 + VAT) can arrange for the Meter Operator to visit the property and test the meter. If the results of this show the meter to be faulty we will refund the cost of the visit and replace or repair.

Please contact us for costs for de-energising or removing your meter as we will need to discuss the reasons for this. If the meter is de-energised the customer will still be liable for standing charges. These standing charges will not apply if the meter is removed completely.

BES make every effort to obtain an accurate meter reading to open or close your account. If we have been unable to do so, and you believe the reading on your invoice to be incorrect, please contact us, and we can look to have this amended for you.

In order to get the supply split completely, you would need to contact your local area electrical distributor who will be able to provide you with information and costs in regards to this.

No, unfortunately at present BES do not offer this service,  you would need to contact a qualified electrician if this is something you would be interested in having fitted.

In order for us to close your account and send a final invoice we require an up to date meter reading and forwarding address to send the final invoice. We may request lease agreements or other documents prior to processing a change of tenancy. If you know the details of the new tenants taking over the premises please forward them to us.

If you are moving to new premises and want to continue being supplied by BES we can arrange a low cost quote to continue our relationship.

Please contact BES Utilities here or call us on 0344 5678 427 and we’ll be happy to help. Please note that we will require a current meter reading and the date that you moved into the premises. We’ll then put the new account in your business name.

All telephone calls received by BES are recorded for training, verification and quality purposes.

For all general enquiries, you can contact our highly-trained customer service team by telephone on 0344 5678 427 Monday to Friday, 8:30 – 17:30.

Alternatively, you can write to us at:

BES Utilities

Fleetwood Town Football Club

Parkside Stand

Park Avenue

Fleetwood

FY7 6TX

Invoices are generated on a monthly basis. Electricity customers are invoiced on or around the 15th of each month. Payment will be collected by Direct Debit 7 days from the date of your invoice.

This guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instruction to pay direct debits. If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your direct debit the organisation will notify you in advance of your account being debited. Please click here for a new copy of the Direct Debit Guarantee.

CCL (Climate Change levy) is a government-imposed tax to encourage reduction in gas emissions and greater efficiency of energy used for business.  It is applied to UK businesses that use more than 12,000 kilo-watt hours of electricity a year, or 53,000 kilo-watt hours of gas.

This will be stated on your invoice from BES. It is usually charged at a rate of 20% however if your business meets the minimum requirements then it will be charged at the lower rate of 5%.

The BES Tracker ensures that our customers are charged for their electricity consumption at a rate which is both fair and transparent. Each April and October, the five industry costs which together make up the customer’s retail price are reviewed against the same costs at the previous tracker review and the aggregated and weighted total price movement is applied to the customer’s existing retail price.

The five industry costs included in each tracker review are:

1. Wholesale energy,

2. “Green” costs and levies,

3. Distribution (DUoS),

4. Transmission (TUoS) and

5. Metering.

If you have any questions about the market tracker product, please email tracker@besutilities.co.uk

Your current electricity rate is shown on your monthly invoices.

The term of your contract can be found in your welcome pack with the contract prices (at point of sale) along with your agreed rates.

Direct Debit is the only payment option available to our customers. To complete a Direct Debit mandate, please click here.

A copy of our complaints procedure can be found here.

At BES we know that if you are running your own business for the first time, or you are unfamiliar with the energy industry, agreeing a contract that suits you best can be daunting.

At BES we strive to provide you with courteous and professional service to ensure you find the deal that’s right for you.

However, if you need some additional help and decide to appoint an energy broker of TPI to act on your behalf, we need you to provide some additional information to help us liaise with your third-party advisor.

To safeguard your details, we need you to send a signed Letter of Authority (LoA) so that we only discuss your account with yourself or your appointed third party.

Sending your Letter of Authority to BES is simple and can be done via post or email.

When sending your Letter of Authority to BES, please ensure you clearly explain which individual/company you have appointed, along with their contact details.

Please also tell us how much authority you have granted to your third party as this can range from gathering quotes, to agreeing a contract on your behalf.

By post

All you have to do is send a signed copy on company letter headed paper to:

Customer Services Team
BES Utilities
Parkside Stand
Fleetwood Town Football Club
Park Avenue
Fleetwood
FY7 6TX

105 is a new three-digit number that people can call to report or get information about power cuts. Read more here.