What electricity costs on the wholesale market
The price generators are paid for electricity, set every half hour. It is not what you pay at home - your tariff smooths this out and adds network costs, levies and VAT - but it is what ultimately drives bills.
Price now
13.94p/kWh
16% higher than yesterday
£139.42 per MWh at 01:30
24-hour high
36.67p/kWh
Reached at 18:30
24-hour low
13.41p/kWh
Reached at 04:30
24-hour average
19.13p/kWh
£191.34 per MWh
Price over the last 24 hours
Wholesale market index price for each half-hour settlement period.
View as table
| Half hour | p/kWh | £/MWh | Volume (MWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:00 | 13.77 | 137.68 | 1,808 |
| 02:30 | 13.94 | 139.41 | 2,353 |
| 03:00 | 13.96 | 139.60 | 2,364 |
| 03:30 | 13.63 | 136.31 | 2,023 |
| 04:00 | 14.12 | 141.22 | 1,700 |
| 04:30 | 13.41 | 134.09 | 2,615 |
| 05:00 | 16.65 | 166.51 | 1,809 |
| 05:30 | 17.47 | 174.73 | 1,830 |
| 06:00 | 18.43 | 184.28 | 2,629 |
| 06:30 | 19.92 | 199.16 | 2,404 |
| 07:00 | 20.35 | 203.49 | 2,807 |
| 07:30 | 21.05 | 210.48 | 2,214 |
| 08:00 | 18.07 | 180.65 | 2,958 |
| 08:30 | 18.26 | 182.59 | 3,651 |
| 09:00 | 15.92 | 159.17 | 2,903 |
| 09:30 | 16.33 | 163.26 | 2,915 |
| 10:00 | 16.41 | 164.12 | 3,827 |
| 10:30 | 16.38 | 163.79 | 4,046 |
| 11:00 | 14.91 | 149.08 | 4,344 |
| 11:30 | 15.66 | 156.59 | 4,620 |
| 12:00 | 14.57 | 145.67 | 4,380 |
| 12:30 | 15.13 | 151.26 | 5,342 |
| 13:00 | 14.72 | 147.20 | 4,451 |
| 13:30 | 14.20 | 141.96 | 4,160 |
| 14:00 | 15.19 | 151.91 | 4,811 |
| 14:30 | 14.79 | 147.92 | 5,011 |
| 15:00 | 17.72 | 177.17 | 4,418 |
| 15:30 | 17.37 | 173.68 | 4,087 |
| 16:00 | 24.28 | 242.78 | 4,233 |
| 16:30 | 25.67 | 256.69 | 4,206 |
| 17:00 | 32.79 | 327.87 | 5,199 |
| 17:30 | 33.62 | 336.19 | 5,436 |
| 18:00 | 36.20 | 361.98 | 5,002 |
| 18:30 | 36.67 | 366.66 | 4,526 |
| 19:00 | 30.29 | 302.85 | 5,355 |
| 19:30 | 29.40 | 294.04 | 5,040 |
| 20:00 | 25.27 | 252.65 | 3,728 |
| 20:30 | 24.16 | 241.58 | 3,989 |
| 21:00 | 20.78 | 207.75 | 3,961 |
| 21:30 | 19.40 | 193.97 | 3,798 |
| 22:00 | 18.60 | 186.00 | 3,126 |
| 22:30 | 17.94 | 179.41 | 3,521 |
| 23:00 | 14.98 | 149.75 | 1,567 |
| 23:30 | 16.04 | 160.39 | 1,413 |
| 00:00 | 16.40 | 163.99 | 1,775 |
| 00:30 | 15.68 | 156.82 | 1,725 |
| 01:00 | 14.07 | 140.72 | 1,909 |
| 01:30 | 13.94 | 139.42 | 2,097 |
What this means
This is the market index price: the volume-weighted average of what electricity actually traded for in each half-hour period. Generators bid to supply, suppliers bid to buy, and the price lands wherever the two meet.
It swings far more than a household bill does. Cheap, windy nights can push it towards zero or below, while a still, cold evening - when gas plants have to cover the gap - can send it many times higher. Your tariff averages all of this out, which is why your unit rate does not move every half hour.
Figures are shown in pence per kilowatt-hour, the unit on your bill, alongside the pounds per megawatt-hour the market itself quotes. A megawatt-hour is a thousand kilowatt-hours.
Updated at 01:47. This page keeps itself current.