Updated 07/10/2025
Here at Procure Smart, it’s in our ethos to help businesses take control of their costs with fast, efficient switching. In order to do this, it’s important to us that we make things as simple as possible for our customers.
In business, we’re all guilty of throwing around acronyms that we use everyday, assuming that everyone else knows what we mean!
For this very reason, we’ve decided to put together a handy jargon buster to help make some tricky subjects that little bit easier.
In the following piece, we’ll cover some of the main terminology used in our core services.
Business Water
- Wholesaler – The regional wholesaler, responsible for treatment of the regions water and delivery to site. Your water retailer charges your water at a fixed rate, regardless of which retailer you use.
- Retailer – The company you pay your bill to. You can now pick and choose your own retailer (this is where Procure Smart come in). Each retailer has their own price point and benefits of being on supply with them.
- SPID – Supply Point ID – Your unique reference for your commercial water supply (commercial only). Check out our blog for more information.
- RSA – Return to Sewer Allowance – The volume of water that your supplier presumes will be returned to the public sewer. A chargeable aspect of your bill and some suppliers may have this set incorrectly (something we can help amend moving forward).
- TE – Trade Effluent – potentially another aspect of your bill. Accounting for wastewater that needs to be treated before entering the sewer system. Often seen on a manufacturing premises.
- CCWater – Consumer Council for Water – A statutory body established by the Water Act 2003 to monitor and advise on consumer issues.
- Market Operator – An administrator that will manage switching services and financial settlements on behalf of incumbent water companies and licensees.
- ML/Megalitre – One Megalitre is equal to 1000 cubic metres or one million litres. A standard Olympic-size swimming pool contains 2.5 ML of water.
- SuDS – Sustainable Drainage Systems – Surface water drainage systems which seek to mimic the way that natural features of the landscape soak up rain or allow rain to soak away and reduce the impact of development on the sewerage system.
Business Energy
- LOA – A Letter of Authority (LOA) is the legal document that provides energy experts with the permission needed to liaise with energy suppliers on your behalf.
- MPAN – Meter Point Admin Number – Unique reference for your electricity meter.
- MPRN – Meter Point Reference Number – Unique reference for your gas meter.
- Fixed Rate Contract – Pre-agreed unit rate (measured in kWh) with your supplier for the duration of your contract. They are the most common business energy tariffs as they enable businesses to maximise the accuracy of their long-term financial forecasts.
- Pass-through Contract – You agree to some, but not all charges upfront with your supplier, with the remainder being ‘passed through’ to you at an additional cost, depending on factors such as your time of usage.
- kWh – KiloWatt Hour – A measurement of energy usage – the power in kilowatts multiplied by the time in hours.
- EAC – Estimated Annual Consumption – Consumption An estimate of how much gas and electricity you use in a year.
- CCL – Climate Change Levy – A small, non-commodity charge designed to incentivise energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
- Capacity charges – Fixed fees, charged by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) through your supplier, that cover the cost of reserving a specific amount of electricity for your site’s peak demand, measured in kilowatts (kW) or kilovolt-amperes (kVA).
- CfD – Contracts for Difference – CfDs incentivise investment in renewable energy by providing developers of projects with high upfront costs and long lifetimes with direct protection from volatile wholesale prices.
- DNO – Distribution Network Operator – The company responsible for actually getting your electricity to you in your area.
- DUoS* – Distribution Use of System – A non-commodity element of your price, which pays for the maintenance of your local energy infrastructure.
- FiT – Small-Scale Feed in Tariff – A government programme designed to promote the uptake of small-scale renewable and low-carbon electricity generation technologies.
- HH – Half Hourly – HH meters read usage every 30 minutes and apply to medium to large consumers.
- NHH – Non Half-Hourly – Electricity meters that don’t read data at half-hourly granularity – usually smaller supplies.
- Load Shedding – Reducing usage at strategic times of the day to manage not only the cost of use but also unlock the savings potential in certain types of energy contracts.
- MOp – Meter Operator – The company responsible for fitting, operating and maintaining your electricity meter. A MOp is appointed for all Half Hourly electricity meter contracts (sites over 100kW).
- RO – Renewable Obligation – An obligation imposed on suppliers by the government to source a proportion of the electricity they supply from renewable energy sources.
- Standing Charge – The fee you pay your supplier to give you access to their energy.
- TNUoS* – Transmission Network Use of System – A non-commodity charge which is paid to the Transmission Network Operators for maintenance of the national transmission infrastructure. Your TNUoS charge is worked out using ‘Triads’ (see below).
- Triads – Data from half-hourly meters is used to judge usage of the grid over periods of highest demand (known as ‘Triads’). Your usage during these times against the highest users will determine your TNUoS charge (see above). A multiplier based on your geographical location will also be applied to give you your final TNUoS charge. These are soon to be a thing of the past under the Targeted Charging Review (TCR), which changes how your usage is measured.
*If you are on a fixed price contract, these non-commodities will be built into your unit price. If you are on a pass-through contract, they are variable and will be itemised on your bill.
Commercial Waste
- A lift – the term used for a collection of a container – suppliers usually charge a set rate “per lift”.
- Overweights – the term used when a container is loaded in excess of the agreed weight limit. The bin is weighed as it is loaded onto the wagon and overweights are calculated. Be cautious, most suppliers charge a set amount for every kilogram overweight. This can result in significantly increased charges if not managed.
- Ro-Ro – Roll on roll off container. A container larger than your usual commercial bins. Requires a specialist truck for delivery/removal.
- Commercial Waste – Waste generated by businesses, such as offices, factories, and retail shops.
- DMR – Dry Mixed Recycling – Dry recyclables, such as paper, glass, and plastic, collected together.
- Front end loader – Large container for light, bulky waste.
- MRF – Material Recycling Facility – Facility that sorts and prepares recyclable materials.
- Transfer Station – Facility where waste is collected before moving to disposal or treatment.
- WEEE – Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment – Electrical items that require specialist disposal.
Card Payment Solutions
- PDQ – Process Data Quickly – Often referred to as a PDQ machine. The terminal that is used for taking payment.
- EPOS – Electronic Point of Sale – A till system that is linked to a payment terminal. Can often be linked into systems to track stock.
- Rates – A percentage of the transaction paid to the provider for processing the transaction.
- Transaction charge – A fixed charge (usually Pence) per transaction. Charged for each transaction, regardless of value.
- PCI Compliance – Being PCI compliant means adhering to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard – essentially agreeing that all data transferred is done so securely.
- CNP – Card Not Present – A transaction in which a physical card is not presented to the merchant, for example, when a transaction is conducted online, over the phone, or by post.
- Chargeback – A transaction in which a card issuer transfers the funds from a transaction back from the merchant to the cardholder in response to a dispute over the purchase raised by the cardholder. The merchant has a set length of time to dispute the chargeback and provide evidence to support its illegitimacy (known as chargeback representment).
- MID – Merchant ID Number –
Business Telecoms
- PSTN– Public switched telephone Network – Traditional telephone line- Soon to be obsolete, replaced by VoIP in 2025.
- VoIP – Voice over Inter Protocol – Using the internet to make calls. Much more flexible and cost effective than traditional lines.
- FTTC – Fibre to the Cabinet – The provider provides fibre cabling to the local cabinet which is then converted to a copper cable into the premises.
- FTTP – Fibre to the Property – The provider provides fibre cabling all the way to the property, resulting in faster upload/download.
- ISDN – Introduced in 1986, it is a communication system that transmits voice and data over a digital line. Most importantly, ISDN uses the PSTN to operate.
- All-IP – Using Internet Protocol technology every phone line in the UK will become all digital, routing calls over IP (internet protocol) rather than the traditional PSTN. This crucially means that any remaining services not switched to the new digital network by January 2027 will be lost.v
How can Procure Smart help me?
To help businesses like yours, we have created a super-easy process for our experts to gather the necessary information to assess your costs and investigate savings, fast. All you need to do is upload a copy of your latest invoices to our web form and our team will undertake a complete audit of your billing.
Once we have this information, we will establish the most business-appropriate solution for you and approach the market on your behalf to negotiate a tailor-made cost-effective solution that adheres to your every business need.
Submit your details with our team below.
