Commercial gas suppliers, compared

Commercial gas is the industry's label for higher-usage business gas. It is not an Ofgem category. In practice it means sites above Ofgem's small-business line of 500,000 kWh of gas a year. As of 22 July 2026, 1-year fixed rates average 7.4p per kWh for medium users and 7.2p for large.

The bigger the meter, the more each decimal place costs. Every 0.1p on the unit rate is £100 a year on a meter using 100,000 kWh (0.1p × 100,000 kWh). At commercial volumes, drifting through a renewal on autopilot is not a rounding error. It is a line your accountant will ask about.

Commercial gas rates right now

These are the higher-usage bands only. Correct as of 22 July 2026.

Source: Business Energy Deals, 22 July 2026, compiled from ICE wholesale prices and rolling non-commodity rates. How we check prices: how we source our numbers.

For context, a small business using 10,000 to 50,000 kWh a year pays around 7.9p per kWh on the same 1-year terms. Higher consumption buys a lower unit rate, but nobody hands you the discount. You have to go and get it at each renewal.

Standing charges on commercial meters vary widely by consumption band and region, so we don't print a single figure here. The full tables, every usage band with standing charges included, live on our business gas prices page.

One more thing the table shows. Fixed deals agreed across 2026 so far have averaged 6.62p (medium) and 6.42p (large), below where July sits. When you sign moves your rate as much as how much you use. That is a reason to watch the market rather than a reason to wait.

The suppliers

Two kinds of company sell commercial gas in the UK. The household names run commercial desks: British Gas, E.ON, EDF and the other large suppliers will all quote a higher-usage meter. Then there are the specialists most businesses have never heard of, who often price sharpest on exactly these bands:

Regent Gas: a gas-only supplier focused on commercial premises. Crown Gas & Power: a business gas specialist. Yü Energy: supplies businesses only, across gas, electricity and water.

None of them is cheapest for every meter. Who wins depends on your usage band, your region and the week you sign. Full supplier profiles are coming on our business gas suppliers page; until then, the honest route is pricing your actual meter across the whole market, which is what we do, with our commission shown before you sign. How brokers get paid is explained in our energy brokers guide.

Most suppliers will also quote green gas, either biomethane bought through the tariff or carbon offsetting added to a standard supply. The two are not the same thing, so ask what actually backs the claim before paying a premium for it. And if you run more than one site, ask for every meter priced on one contract with one end date. Fewer renewals to miss.

If you're opening a site that has no gas meter yet, the supply contract is the final step. Start with business gas meter installation.

Commercial vs business vs domestic gas

"Commercial gas" and "business gas" are the same product. Suppliers tend to say "commercial" about bigger meters, but the pipes, the gas and the paperwork are identical. Where Ofgem does draw lines is by size: a micro business uses up to 293,000 kWh of gas a year, a small business up to 500,000 kWh. Above that, you're a large user in the regulator's eyes, whatever the label on the tariff.

The dividing line that changes your bill is business versus domestic. Four things differ.

VAT: business gas carries 20% VAT, against 5% for homes. Supplies averaging 145 kWh a day or less qualify for the 5% rate whatever the use, but most commercial meters are well past that line. Charity non-business use qualifies for 5% too. The detail lives in our VAT guide.

Climate Change Levy: business supplies pay CCL at 0.801p per kWh since 1 April 2026, rising to 0.827p from 1 April 2027. Domestic supplies don't pay it, and it falls away on any supply that qualifies for 5% VAT. Businesses holding a Climate Change Agreement get an 89% reduction.

Protections: domestic customers get a price cap and a cooling-off period. Businesses get neither. A business gas contract binds from the moment you agree it, including on the phone, and there is no cooling-off period afterwards. That is the clause that stings. Get every quote in writing before you say yes. Leaving a fixed deal early is rarely an option either: most contracts run to their end date, and breaking one means termination fees where the supplier allows it at all. Since 19 December 2024, small businesses (up to 500,000 kWh of gas a year) do get Energy Ombudsman access and formal complaints-handling standards. Above that threshold, the contract is the protection, so read it.

Speed: a business gas switch completes in 5 working days under Ofgem's faster switching rules, unless you agree a later start date. Your supply is never interrupted, whichever supplier you move to. You can usually agree the next contract months before the current one ends, but check your notice period first: many commercial contracts want written termination notice before the end date. If the renewal letter has already landed, our business gas renewal guide takes it line by line.

Any quote starts with your postcode and your MPRN, the meter number printed on your bill; where to find it is covered in our MPRN guide.

Half-hourly and larger meters

Half-hourly metering is an electricity arrangement; gas doesn't use it. The gas equivalent for the largest sites is daily metering, where the meter is read every day and contracts are priced around that data. Our guide to larger gas meters will cover it when it publishes.

Contracts stretch with meter size too. Fixed terms run from 1 to 5 years across the market, and a longer fix trades a slightly higher rate for more years of certainty. The very largest users often skip fixing altogether and buy gas in tranches across the contract; that approach is flexible procurement, covered in our energy procurement guide (live shortly).