About this agreement
These terms and conditions govern electricity supply agreements between UC Energy Ltd (trading as UrbanChain) and business customers. They apply to all eChain electricity supply arrangements where we act as supplier and agent for eChain Generator Partners.
UC Energy Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 10972017), with our registered office at 30 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7AU. Our Ofgem supply licence number is 10972017.
Definitions
In these terms, the following key definitions apply:
- Agreement: the electricity supply contract between you and us, comprising the Cover Sheet and these Terms and Conditions.
- Annual Contracted Volume (ACV): the total volume of electricity (in kWh) you agree to purchase from us in each contract year.
- eChain Platform Fee: a fee of 0.4p/kWh charged for use of the eChain system, included in your Electricity Price.
- eChain Supply: electricity supplied to you from one or more Generators via the eChain system, matched to your consumption on a half-hourly basis.
- eChain System: our AI-based platform that matches electricity supply from Generators to Customers in real time.
- Electricity Price: the per-unit price (p/kWh) for electricity set out in the Cover Sheet, which may be Fixed, Variable (Local), or a combination of both.
- End Date: the date on which the agreed supply term expires, as set out in the Cover Sheet.
- Generator: an entity that generates electricity and supplies it to you via the eChain system under the terms of a separate generator contract.
- MPAN: Meter Point Administration Number — the unique identifier for your electricity supply point.
- Non-Commodity Costs: all charges, levies, taxes, and fees associated with electricity delivery other than the wholesale cost — including DUoS, TNUoS, BSUoS, Renewables Obligation, and other regulatory charges.
- Out of Plan Tariff: the default deemed contract rate shown on our website, which applies after the End Date if you have not renewed or switched supplier.
- REGO: a Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificate issued by Ofgem.
- Standing Charges: periodic non-commodity costs calculated as pence per day, including DUoS fixed charges, DCC, and TNUoS.
- Start Date: the date on which we register as the supplier of your MPAN, as set out in the Cover Sheet.
- Termination Fee: a fee payable if you end the Agreement before the End Date, comprising imbalance costs incurred by Generators and our margin for the remainder of the term.
Supply of electricity
We act as agent for our Generator Partners in contracting for the provision of eChain Supplies to you. By entering this Agreement, you are contracting with our Generators to receive such supplies as determined by our eChain system.
You may purchase electricity up to your Contracted Volume from one or more Generators via our eChain system. You may also purchase in excess of the Contracted Volume, but if your actual consumption varies from the current forecast by more than 5%, you will be charged for any additional costs, losses, or expenses incurred as a result.
Where your eChain Supply is eligible to receive REGOs, we will use reasonable endeavours to procure that the relevant Generator transfers the applicable REGOs on your behalf via Ofgem's Renewables and CHP Register.
If you continue to receive supply after the End Date without renewing, you will be moved to the Out of Plan Tariff until your MPAN is registered with another supplier or we agree a new End Date and Electricity Price with you.
eChain preconditions and metering
Before you can participate in the eChain system, you must have an installed half-hourly meter, and we must be able to profile your meter on a half-hourly basis. If this precondition is not satisfied on the Start Date, both parties will use reasonable endeavours to ensure it is satisfied as soon as practicable.
From the Start Date, we will make all reasonable efforts to become the meter registrant for your MPAN(s). We will appoint a Meter Operator and Data Collector of our choosing, unless you have directly contracted metering services and evidenced this to us prior to the Start Date.
If no meter data is provided, we will charge you based on our estimate of your consumption. When full data becomes available, we will undertake a full reconciliation with any over- or underpayment addressed in the following invoice.
If the preconditions have not been satisfied within three months of the Start Date, either party may end this Agreement by notice to the other.
Your promises
By entering this Agreement, you confirm that:
- You are authorised to enter into this Agreement for the Premises.
- You have terminated your agreement with your previous supplier and ensured they have no cause to raise a transfer objection.
- The MPAN is connected to the local electricity distribution network.
- You will notify us promptly if your customer details as set out in the Cover Sheet change.
You also acknowledge that we are the owner or licensee of all Intellectual Property Rights in the eChain system. This Agreement does not grant you any rights to use, copy, reverse engineer, or otherwise exploit those rights. This obligation continues after the Agreement ends.
Billing
We will produce a monthly e-bill, delivered by email or uploaded to the eChain Portal, as soon as it is available after the end of each month. Each monthly bill will set out:
- The amount payable for eChain Supplies during that month (volume × Electricity Price).
- eChain Supply volume fees (volume × applicable platform fee and TPI rate).
- Standing Charges (number of days × Standing Charge rate).
- Applicable capacity or excess capacity charges based on your KVA capacity.
- KVArh (reactive power) charges as levied by your network operator.
- Meter and meter service charges where metering is not covered by your own contract.
- Any imbalance charges and any other amounts due under the Agreement.
We will add VAT and Climate Change Levy (CCL) at the relevant standard rates. If you are entitled to a reduced rate, you must provide us with the appropriate documentation.
If you dispute any part of an invoice, you must do so before the due date. Any disputed amount must be reasonable — an invoice cannot be disputed in its entirety where electricity supply has been provided.
Payment
If paying by BACS or CHAPS, you agree to pay the full amount stated in any bill within ten (10) days of receipt. If paying by Variable Direct Debit, we will take the amount from your nominated bank account no sooner than ten (10) working days from the date we send you the bill.
If you fail to pay any undisputed amounts by the due date, we may:
- Charge a late payment administration fee of £100 per invoice or 10% of the outstanding sum (whichever is greater).
- Increase the Electricity Price in this Agreement by 7% until outstanding amounts are paid.
- Charge interest on outstanding amounts at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, accruing daily and compounded monthly.
If you continue to fail to make payment for more than 30 days from the due date, we may pass your details to debt collection agents. All reasonable charges incurred in doing so will be added to your account.
We have the right to object to any proposed transfer of your MPAN to another supplier where any undisputed amount remains outstanding. If you fail to pay undisputed charges within 90 days of the invoice due date, we may take all lawful steps to recover the debt, including entering the Premises to inspect or remove metering equipment, or arranging for disconnection of supply.
Ending this agreement
You may end this Agreement before the End Date with immediate effect by giving written notice if we commit a material breach and fail to remedy it within 30 days of notification, or if you do not receive an eChain Supply due to permanent failure of the eChain system.
You may also end this Agreement prior to the End Date with our agreement if you introduce a replacement supply customer to take your Contracted Volume. If you end this Agreement without providing a replacement customer, you will be charged the Termination Fee, which must be paid before your meter can be registered with another supplier.
We may end this Agreement with immediate effect if you commit a material breach, fail to make payment within a 5-working-day remediation period following notice, repeatedly breach the Agreement, fail to take an eChain Supply for more than seven consecutive days, provide incorrect material information, or suffer an Insolvency Event. The Termination Fee will be payable immediately in these circumstances.
Either party may end this Agreement on a no-fault basis if a Force Majeure Event prevents performance of all or substantially all obligations for a continuous period of at least 30 days, or if the Agreement cannot legally be performed due to a change in law.
Changes to this agreement
Provided any changes do not have a material effect on your position, we may change the conditions of this Agreement at any time. We will notify you no later than 30 days in advance and will publish revised Terms and Conditions on our website.
Any changes that are likely to have a material negative effect on your position will be discussed with you in advance. If you do not agree with the changes, you may end this Agreement by giving us no fewer than 30 days' notice, provided that notice is given before the date the changes take effect.
In the event a Change in Law takes place with a material effect on how the Agreement operates, we will notify you of the intended changes, consider your representations within seven days of our notice, and provide you with an updated version of the Agreement.
Our liability to you
We and the Generators are only liable to you as set out in this Agreement. Neither we nor you are liable to each other for indirect loss of income, business, or profits (other than arising from fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation), nor for any loss resulting from your liability to a third party.
Our and the Generators' combined total liability to you under this Agreement is limited to the Electricity Price multiplied by two months of the annual average Contracted Volume (pro rata) in relation to all claims. This limit does not apply where we have committed fraud, or where death or personal injury has been caused by our negligence.
If we are liable for a loss caused by the actions or inactions of a Generator, our liability to you is limited to the amount we actually recover from them on your behalf using reasonable endeavours.
This Agreement does not exclude any liability that we are not permitted to exclude by law.
Confidentiality
You agree to keep confidential and not disclose to any third party (except your professional advisors, or as required by law or a regulatory authority) any information of a confidential nature relating to us or our affiliates that becomes known to you in connection with this Agreement — unless that information is already public knowledge or subsequently becomes so through no breach of this Agreement.
You must not make any public announcement concerning this Agreement without our prior written consent, except as required by law or regulatory authority.
Data protection
Where each of us processes personal data in connection with this Agreement, we each act as Data Controller in respect of our own processing. We will each: process personal data only in connection with this Agreement; ensure all necessary consents are in place for lawful data transfers; engage third-party processors only in accordance with data protection law; and maintain appropriate technical and organisational security measures.
We will process personal data we receive from you in line with our customer privacy notice, available at urbanchain.co.uk/privacy-policy.
Notices and general
Any notice required under this Agreement must be in writing and delivered by hand or registered post, with a copy sent by email. Notices to us should be sent to: 4th Floor BASE, Manchester Science Park, Greenhays Lane, Manchester, M15 6LR (email: businesses@urbanchain.co.uk and legal@urbanchain.co.uk), with a copy to our registered office at 30 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7AU.
Social media messaging is not accepted as valid service of a notice under this Agreement. A posted notice will be deemed received two business days after posting; a hand-delivered notice on the business day of delivery.
The Cover Sheet and these Terms and Conditions, together with any documents expressly referred to in them, constitute the entire agreement between you and us. If any part of this Agreement is void or unenforceable, the rest remains in full force. We may transfer any of our rights and/or obligations under this Agreement without your permission; you must not transfer yours without our consent.
This Agreement is governed by the laws of England. Any disputes will be dealt with by the English courts.
UC Energy Ltd (Company No. 10972017) is licensed by Ofgem and trades under the name "UrbanChain". Registered in England and Wales. Registered Office: 30 Old Bailey, London EC4M 7AU.