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Profile class

What is a profile class?

Behind every UK non-half-hourly electricity meter sits a little industry parameter called the profile class. The PC is one of those numbers nobody reads on the bill but that quietly shapes how the supplier estimates your consumption between actual meter readings and how non-commodity charges are calculated. There are six standard profile classes covering domestic and non-domestic customers across different load patterns. PC 03 (non-domestic unrestricted) and PC 04 (non-domestic Economy 7) cover most UK business sites. PC 05 and PC 06 cover sites with specific load factor characteristics. Knowing your profile class makes it possible to diagnose why bill estimates feel wrong and whether a review would improve the accuracy.

Profile class sits inside the wider settlement mechanics of business electricity supply and tells suppliers roughly when, across the day, your site uses energy.

For most UK NHH electricity customers the profile class is a background industry parameter that nobody thinks about. It becomes relevant when a site grows materially, when usage patterns change (new equipment, new operating hours), or when bill estimates feel wrong. Knowing your PC and understanding what it describes makes those situations easier to diagnose.

What a profile class actually does

The profile class describes the typical consumption pattern of a UK NHH electricity meter.

• Assigned to every UK NHH meter at the supply point.
• Specified at industry level under settlement rules.
• Used by the supplier to estimate consumption between actual meter readings.
• Feeds into how non-commodity charges are calculated for the supply.

The PC is not a tariff. It is a settlement classification. Two customers on the same PC can be on completely different tariffs from completely different suppliers.

The six UK profile classes

PC 05 and PC 06 are reserved for non-domestic sites where the load factor (average consumption divided by peak consumption) puts them outside the typical pattern of PC 03 or PC 04.

How profile classes are applied

1. When a UK NHH meter is installed or transferred, the supplier assigns a PC based on the supply point type and historic data.
2. The PC is recorded in the central industry data systems against the MPAN.
3. The supplier uses the PC to estimate daily and half-hourly consumption between actual reads.
4. Settlement systems use the PC plus the estimated consumption to allocate volumes for industry settlement.
5. Non-commodity charges (DUoS, BSUoS, AAHEDC) are calculated using the PC-based consumption pattern.

Why profile class matters for your bill

The PC affects several bill components.

• Estimate accuracy. If the PC matches your actual consumption pattern, supplier estimates between reads will be close. If it does not, estimates can drift materially.
• DUoS allocation. Time-varying DUoS bands feed differently into the bill depending on the PC’s assumed consumption pattern.
• AAHEDC. Assistance for Areas with High Electricity Distribution Costs applies differently across PCs.
• Capacity allocation. Capacity costs for NHH sites are partly attributable to the PC’s peak demand assumption.

For most small business customers, the PC is set at install and never changes. For sites where consumption patterns shift, a PC review can produce more accurate billing.

How and when profile class changes

PC changes happen on three triggers.

• Customer request. Customer asks supplier to review the PC because consumption has changed.
• Supplier-initiated. Supplier sees consumption patterns diverging from the PC and initiates a review.
• Site upgrade. Move from single-phase to three-phase, change of meter type, or change of supply specification triggers a PC reassessment.

The change is submitted through industry data systems and typically takes 4 to 8 weeks to propagate.

When the profile class is wrong

A wrong PC produces wrong consumption estimates between actual reads, which means.

• Bills are estimated either too high or too low.
• Catch-up bills appear when actual readings arrive.
• Direct debit calibration drifts from real cost.
• Non-commodity charges may be miscalculated.

Common scenarios where the PC drifts wrong include a new tenant operating differently from the previous occupier, equipment upgrades that shift the peak/average ratio, and seasonal businesses where the supplied profile does not match operations.

Load factor and PC 05/06

Load factor is the ratio of average consumption to peak consumption.

• Low load factor (0-20 per cent). High peak relative to average. Examples. Sites with brief intense bursts of consumption (cold storage compressor cycles, electric water heating with on-peak timing).
• Mid load factor (20-30 per cent). More balanced. Examples. Most retail with standard hours.
• High load factor (above 30 per cent). Smooth consumption pattern. Sites approaching HH metering thresholds.

PC 05 and PC 06 cover the lower and mid load factor ranges respectively. Sites above 30 per cent load factor are usually candidates for voluntary HH metering anyway.

Where to find your profile class

The PC for a UK NHH electricity meter is shown on.

• The bill (meter data section, sometimes shown as a 2-digit code).
• The supplier portal (in the supply details).
• The MPAN itself; the top line of the MPAN encodes the PC as the first two digits.

If you have your MPAN, you have your PC. The MPAN top line digits 1 and 2 are the PC. See MPAN for the structure.

Profile class under MHHS

Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) is moving all UK electricity supplies to HH settlement by 2026. Under MHHS.

• Settlement uses actual half-hourly data rather than profile-based estimates.
• Profile classes become less critical to the settlement process.
• The customer’s bill format is likely to remain similar to NHH for most small business customers.
• The underlying cost recovery becomes more responsive to actual half-hourly patterns.

Practical implications for businesses

For UK business customers, the profile class is worth checking at three points.

• At contract renewal. Confirm the PC matches your actual consumption pattern.
• After material operational changes. Equipment upgrades, change of operating hours, or change of business activity may warrant a PC review.
• When bill estimates feel wrong. A persistent gap between estimated and actual consumption often traces back to a stale PC.

Related entries. MPAN, non-half-hourly, half-hourly meter, Economy 7, estimated read, smart meter, bill validation.

How PC is encoded in your MPAN

The profile class is built into the top line of every UK MPAN. The first two digits of the 13-digit MPAN top line are the profile class number.

So a UK NHH electricity supply with PC 04 (non-domestic Economy 7) has an MPAN top line that starts “04”. PC 00 and PC 07-08 are used for HH metering. See MPAN for the full structure.

Common profile class pitfalls

• PC drift after operations change. The PC is set at install and rarely reviewed unless the customer or supplier prompts a change. A business that has materially shifted its hours, added new equipment, or repurposed the space often has a stale PC.
• PC mismatch with tariff. Moving from a single-rate tariff to Economy 7 (or back) should trigger a PC update. Sometimes the tariff is changed but the PC stays the same, producing wrong estimates and possibly wrong charges.
• PC 05 and PC 06 confusion. These classes are reserved for sites with specific load factor patterns and should not be assigned arbitrarily. A wrong PC 05 or 06 designation can distort non-commodity charges.
• Profile class change after Change of Tenancy. A new occupier with a different operating pattern may benefit from a PC review under the new account, particularly if the previous occupier was very different in size or hours.

Frequently asked questions