First published: 26 March 2020
Last updated: 25 June 2020
This page will be reviewed regularly with the latest information about Gazprom Energy’s response to the evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. We’ll also share updates via our social media channels:
When news of a new coronavirus outbreak in China first hit the media at the start of this year, we could never have imagined just how quickly and aggressively COVID-19 would spread. Our primary concerns are the wellbeing of our employees and minimising disruption to customers.
On this page we have provided answers to frequently asked questions to help our customers navigate this challenging situation. As time goes on and advice from the Government changes, we are updating this page to ensure it remains useful and relevant.
If you have a question that isn’t answered below, please email enquiries@gazprom-energy.com so we can look into this for you.
All employees are now working from home – we quickly mobilised a remote workforce when the government announced that people should work from home where possible. This involved enabling over 80 people to work from home who have never done so before.
All internal and external meetings are now taking place over the phone or via video conference.
We have temporarily reduced new business sales activities because we need to focus on looking after our existing customers.
We have suspended all late payment fees and interest for small-medium sized (SME) customers for the time being.
We continue to closely monitor all government communication on coronavirus (COVID-19) and are responding to all changes and new information as quickly as we can.
When it comes to looking after our customers there are lots of things we cannot control, for example meter reading agencies suspending site visits, but we are doing our best to support customers who are most affected by COVID-19 where we can. Our actions to date include:
And together with our competitors we have approached Ofgem to request that they, together with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) support the non-domestic energy market’s suppliers and consumers.
Yes, we’re open as usual.
Our Customer Service team is working remotely, and they are available Monday to Friday 08.30 – 17.00 on the phone and via email:
All account managers are working from home (unless they are on annual leave or off sick) but their working hours may be slightly different to usual if they have children to take care of.
The Energy Procurement Desk remains open and the team can be contacted via all usual channels so transactions can go ahead as normal.
You can also access your account online 24/7 via the My Gazprom Energy portal.
Our priority is always to minimise disruption to our customers so we have robust business continuity plans and processes in place to deal with different scenarios that may unfold. We know exactly what our critical business processes are at different times in the month and we’re constantly reviewing our plans and processes as the situation evolves.
We will keep our customers updated via this webpage and our social media channels:
We don’t have any concerns about the security of gas/electricity supply in Great Britain and Ofgem has stated that energy supply won’t be disrupted. All suppliers and network companies continue to operate to the same rules and obligations put in place by the regulator, the gas and electricity networks will remain operational and utilities has been confirmed as a critical sector by the government.
Yes, please. We kindly ask you to email our Customer Service team at enquiries@gazprom-energy.com to let us know. Please include the site reference number and a meter reading (with date of reading) to ensure your next bill is based on your actual consumption, rather than an estimate.
If you have an automated meter reading (AMR) device attached to your meter, you don’t need to send us a meter reading but doing so would also be beneficial to ensure your device is working as expected.
If your correspondence address has changed temporarily, please let us know via any of the below channels:
You’ll continue to receive a monthly bill from Gazprom Energy while your business/site is closed. The total cost of your bill should reduce significantly if gas/electricity consumption at the site reduces or stops completely.
Please be aware that you’re still liable for standing charge costs, even when there is no gas/electricity being used at the site. This fee covers the fixed and third party costs that are charged regardless of whether the site is consuming energy or not.
To ensure your bills reflect your actual consumption, please send us a meter reading at the end of each month (unless there is an automated meter reading device attached to your meter). You can submit a meter reading via any of the below channels and you should also let us know if your correspondence address has changed temporarily:
We understand that this is a stressful time for business owners and bill payers who are dealing with a multitude of issues right now. We’re committed to helping customers that are most affected by the coronavirus situation where possible.
Please go to our Financial Difficulty page to find out what you should do if you're worried about paying your business energy bills due to the COVID-19 situation.
The standing charge fee on your bill covers the fixed and third party costs that are charged regardless of whether the site is consuming energy or not so it will not reduce as a result of reduced consumption.
We appreciate that these costs could be a burden for customers at this time so, together with our competitors, we have approached Ofgem to request support for the non-domestic energy market’s suppliers and consumers – including temporary relief from transmission and distribution charges. There is no guarantee that any such relief will be given, though we will continue to pursue this for our customers. In the meantime, you should continue to pay standing charges as usual.
If your organisation has a flexible purchasing agreement with us, it’s important that we know about any changes in usage so please contact your account manager directly for support.
If you have already prepared a new forecast, you can send this directly to the Energy Procurement Desk by emailing EPD@gazprom-energy.com. Please include the relevant meter point reference (MPR) or AG numbers which can both be found on your monthly bill.
Our meter reading agencies are not currently visiting sites to take meter readings.
To ensure your bills reflect your actual consumption, please send us a meter reading at the end of each month (unless there is an automated meter reading device attached to your meter). You can submit a meter reading via any of the below channels:
Yes. Site visits for AMR and smart meter installations restarted in June and we have been working with our service providers to plan a phased and controlled return to normal service. If you had an appointment that had to be cancelled as a result of COVID-19, you should receive a new date soon if you haven’t already.
For the protection of you and the engineers visiting sites, our service providers have drafted new method statements in line with best practice and government advice on COVID-19. Some sites may require additional site safety precautions/measures, and these will normally be detailed during a site induction.
Yes. Site visits for meter installations and other site works restarted in June and we have been working with our service providers to plan a phased and controlled return to normal service. If you had an appointment that had to be cancelled as a result of COVID-19, you should receive a new date soon if you haven’t already.
There is no change to our emergency arrangements. Please go to our emergencies page for information on what to do if you smell gas or are experiencing a power cut.
We fully expect all transfers to go ahead as planned. Switching is one of our critical processes so this will always be prioritised. If for any reason, there’s an issue with your transfer, we’ll be in touch.
As always, your transfer could be delayed if your current supplier objects to it. If this happens, your current supplier is obligated to tell you as soon as possible so you can resolve the issue and continue with your transfer to Gazprom Energy.
If you have an account manager, you can also contact him/her directly.
Please be aware that the quality of our calls may be affected slightly since our teams are using home wi-fi connections. If you have any difficulties speaking with our agents, they will call you back.
Profiles for daily metered (DM) sites can be updated (re forecast) at any point and we encourage you to do so if your usage pattern is changing. Please send this directly to the Energy Procurement Desk by emailing EPD@gazprom-energy.com and remember to include the relevant meter point reference (MPR) or AG numbers which can both be found on your monthly bill. You should note that forecasts for the following month can be submitted up until the penultimate trading day in the current month i.e. the deadline to submit a forecast for April-20 is Monday 30 March. Unfortunately, profiles for non-daily metered (NDM) sites cannot be amended. NDM profiles are only updated once a year therefore any change in NDM consumption will not be reflected in the trading profile.
Yes, you can if your agreement allows this so please refer to your product schedule.
To minimise the impact on businesses that have been forced to close as a result of coronavirus, where possible we attempted to contact every customer that didn’t have an up to date meter reading on their account. We have also looked at your industry type to determine if you have been forced to close. Having an up to date meter reading means we know exactly how much gas/electricity your business has consumed and we can therefore send you an accurate bill, rather than an estimate. We struggled to get hold of people and response to our email requests was low, so in cases where the March bill was going to be calculated based on an estimate reading, we have used the same meter reading as April. This means that the ‘usage’ for May shows as zero and therefore, the total gas/electricity cost is £0.00.
We did this to stop customers from receiving estimate bills, based on ‘normal’ consumption, at a time when consumption has reduced or stopped altogether. This is a short-term solution for an unprecedented situation, and we will need to charge for May consumption in the future, once we have an accurate meter reading. We just don’t want customers paying for energy they potentially haven’t consumed at a time when paying bills might be a struggle.
Please send us an up to date meter reading so we can adjust your consumption accordingly and send you an accurate bill.
Online: my.gazprom-energy.co.uk
Email: enquiries@gazprom-energy.com
Phone: 0161 837 3395
Please be aware that you’re still liable for standing charge costs, even when there is no charge for gas/electricity usage.
Please provide a meter reading as soon as possible so we can ensure your next bill reflects actual consumption, rather than an estimate. You can do this:
