Unit price

The general definition of unit price is the price of a commodity per kilogram, litre, metre or other size unit.

Energy consumption is charged per joule, kilowatt-hour (electricity) or cubic metre (natural gas), where 100 kilowatt-hours equal 0.36 gigajoule and 10 cubic metres of natural gas, from Slochteren, equals 0.3517 gigajoule.

For natural gas and electricity consumption, the unit price is calculated as follows: 

unit price = (standing charge / energy use) + costs per energy unit.

The more energy used, the lower the unit price becomes.

For example:
- standing charge = 100 euro
- costs per energy unit =  1 euro
- consumption of 10 units of energy: unit price = (100/10) +1 = 11 euro
- consumption of 1,000 units of energy: unit price = (100/1000) + 1 = 1.10 euro

The example shows that for users who use one hundred times more energy, the unit price is around one tenth.