How to read a Natural Gas Bill – Bord Gais – Ireland

Following on from posts on how to read an electricity bill, and how to read an oil bill, here is a short post on how to read a natural gas bill, specifically Bord Gais.

Interestingly while gas is measured in M3, it is charged in kWh, so the complicated, and the bit that most people have trouble with, is the conversion that is done on the bill, so here we go.

GPRN – Grid Point Registration Number – This is the national registration number of your connection point.   This is unique to you, and will remain being yours even if you change gas supplier (which you can do – in theory). 

Meter No. – This is your meter number. Why is this different to your GPRN number… Mystery to me.

Meter Readings – These are the critical thing. They measure how many M3 you’ve used since the last bill. The “E” refers to the fact that they have to send someone along to read it, and when they don’t they estimate the number. Hopefully Bord Gais will follow the lead of ESB and push for smart meters in the future.

Conversion Factor – This relates M3 of gas to kWh of energy. Depending on where the gas has come from (North Sea, Russia etc) this number changes from constantly, but is generally in and around 11. I assume that the powers that be do a test on a sample of gas every day or something like that.

Tariff Type – This is a “Standard Tariff” bill. Other options are “No Standing Charge – no standing charge but at a higher rate – suitable for really low users” or “Winter Saver Tariff – an odd saving scheme whereby you pay a higher standing charge, but it is returned to you as credit during the winter, suitable for… people without bank accounts?????