Energy Invoice Electricity Usage Charges

Question

For energy invoices issued in the past 24 months, the EnergyInvoice schema issueDate should be within the past 24 months. Is that correct?

Answer

Yes. 

Question

In the EnergyInvoiceElectricityUsageCharges schema, does totalUsageCharges also include demandCharges, or does it only include the peak, offpeak, shoulder and controlledLoad charges? If the demandCharges are not included, then should they be passed as otherCharges?

Answer

The Consumer Data Standards (CDS) are not prescriptive in this regard. It is at the discretion of the DH to determine what charges fall into which category. The general guidance is that charges resulting from usage of energy should be included within totalUsageCharges. 

Question

In the EnergyInvoiceElectricityUsageCharges schema, does the totalOnceOffCharges value include service orders fees and charges, late payment fees, bill delivery and payment fees?

Answer

The Consumer Data Standards (CDS) are not prescriptive in this regard. It is at the discretion of the DH to determine what charges fall into which category. The general guidance is that any charges that are not recurring should be within totalOnceOffCharges.

Question

In the EnergyInvoiceElectricityUsageCharges schema, does the field totalOnceOffDiscounts include concessions and rebates? During consultations, it was mentioned that concession and rebates are not included. If not included, then invoiceAmount will not be accurate, as the invoiceAmount takes into account the concessions deducted. 

Answer

Decision Proposal 198 suggested that distinct fields should not be created for concessions. They should be included in the total fields. A comment by CDR-API-Stream on 25 Oct 2021 states:

“Concessions and rebates should be included in the total fields as suggested. Separate fields have not been created due to the sensitivity of this data set. By aggregating this data a customer is able to share their invoice data without the need to disclose a hardship-related concession. Concessions have been separated into a specific data scope for this reason.”

Question

In the EnergyInvoiceElectricityUsageCharges schema, does the field otherCharges include dailySupplyCharges and meteringCharge?

Answer

All charges that do not fall within totalUsageCharges or onceOff charges fall within  the otherCharges category.