How MHHS Will Change Business Energy Bills (and What You Should Do Now)
Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) will transform how your energy bills are calculated. The question is whether you’re ready to benefit — or whether you’ll end up paying more.
The MHHS programme is more than a technical update. It’s a shift in how your business energy costs are created. Instead of relying on averages and estimates, your bills will be tied directly to when and how you consume electricity, every half-hour of every day. That shift will ripple through procurement strategies, budgeting, and financial reporting.
From averages to precision billing
Historically, many businesses have been billed on “profiled” consumption. If you used a typical office meter, the market assumed you followed an industry profile. Your bill reflected broad averages, not precise usage.
MHHS removes those assumptions. Your bill will reflect actual consumption in each 30-minute window. This has major consequences:
- Peak use becomes expensive: Consuming at 4-7pm will carry higher costs.
- Off-peak use becomes cheaper: Night-time and weekend loads may reduce your average unit rate.
- Volatility enters the bill: Prices fluctuate more clearly with the wholesale market.
For some businesses, this will unlock savings. For others, it may create budget shocks.
Short-term impacts: turbulence during rollout
The early phase of MHHS will not be smooth. Suppliers are retooling systems. Data collection will strain. Finance teams should expect:
- Billing anomalies: Incorrect or delayed invoices as systems catch up.
- Reconciliation costs: Surprise charges or credits as past usage is trued up.
- Supplier errors: Some invoices may include wrong settlement prices or periods.
If left unmanaged, these anomalies lead to disputes and wasted admin time. Smart firms will treat the first 12-18 months of MHHS as a monitoring phase, with close review of every line item.
Medium-term impacts: budgeting under MHHS
Once MHHS stabilises, the real effects appear. Your budget will depend not only on how much electricity you use, but when you use it.
- Energy spend volatility: Monthly costs fluctuate more visibly.
- Forecasting pressure: Finance must adapt models to account for half-hourly data.
- Procurement complexity: Fixed-rate contracts may become less competitive if your usage profile is unfavourable.
This is where finance and facilities need to work together. Operational changes (like rescheduling shifts) directly impact budget stability. Procurement strategy becomes board-level, not just a back-office task.
Long-term impacts: strategic opportunity
For businesses prepared to adapt, MHHS opens the door to long-term savings and competitive advantage. Consider:
- Demand flexibility: Adjusting when you consume can cut wholesale costs.
- On-site generation and storage: Solar panels or batteries reduce peak-time exposure.
- Smarter procurement: Contracts can be structured around your actual consumption profile.
Firms that embrace this will not just control costs, they’ll prove to investors, boards, and regulators that they’re ahead of the curve.
Which businesses are most exposed?
MHHS will not hit all sectors equally. Businesses most at risk are those with:
- High peak-time demand: Retail, hospitality, call centres operating 4-7pm.
- Inflexible operations: Processes that cannot shift load to off-peak.
- Multiple sites with poor data: Harder to track usage and reconcile costs.
Conversely, businesses with late-night or weekend usage, such as logistics, data centres, or manufacturers with 24/7 operations, may benefit.
How to prepare now
Preparation does not mean expensive tech investments. It means visibility, planning, and contracts designed for a new billing reality.
- Audit consumption patterns: Do you know your true peak vs. off-peak load?
- Check metering: Ensure all sites support half-hourly data capture.
- Upgrade reporting: Finance should move beyond kWh totals to time-based analysis.
- Review procurement: Contracts must account for half-hourly volatility.
- Engage stakeholders: Get leadership aligned early – MHHS is board-relevant.
What you should avoid
- Ignoring rollout timelines: Waiting until after implementation leaves you reacting, not leading.
- Assuming suppliers will manage it: Suppliers pass risk on – they don’t absorb it.
- Sticking with estimates: If you don’t validate half-hourly data, errors go unnoticed until costs spiral.
Final thought: a choice between control and cost
MHHS will either make your bills unpredictable, or it will give you new levers to control cost. The difference is preparation. Finance leaders who act now can lock in better procurement strategies and avoid budget shocks. Facilities teams who act now can find operational wins. But businesses that delay will be left explaining unplanned overspend at board level.
What’s next?
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