A church thought a “galling” gas bills rise that has battered its budget was a misprint.

St Peter’s Church in Berry Lane, Mill End, Rickmansworth, has faced quadrupling bills from Total Energies with its standing charge alone going from £1.45 a day to £10.31.

Church treasurer Anne Short said: “I initially thought it was a misprint. It meant paying £3,763 a year before using any gas at all.

“As you can imagine that was a terrible shock.”

Anne said that the church does have the reserves to pay but added “this money was given to use to do what we should be doing as a church, helping people”, but instead much is now going straight to its bills.

“Its just galling,” she added.

St Peter’s buys its gas and electricity through Parish Buying, negotiating together with other churches to get a better deal, but was baffled to find its bills rose far more than other churches.

Being part of Parish Buying also meant it did not qualify for the government’s Energy Bills Relief Fund.

Watford Observer: St Peter's ChurchSt Peter's Church (Image: St Peter's Church)

Anne now estimates the 2022/2023 year to cost £9,107 if the church uses the same as the year before, when it cost £2,070.

A letter to the church from Total Energies said around 70 per cent of the increase is down to “an industry cost called Unidentified Gas (UIG)”, which refers to gas used that can’t be identified to a particular user.

Standing charges are capped for households but not for businesses and the energy company offered three reasons explaining why the church’s daily charge was so high.

It said the new contract was agreed when wholesale prices were near their peak. UIG costs are allocated differently based on different meter types and the church’s faced “a large increase”. Finally, they are also allocated based on consumption and the church increased its usage the year before.

Watford Observer: St Peter's Church congregationSt Peter's Church congregation (Image: St Peter's Church)

Anne highlighted that the church had not been running for much of the 2020/2021 period and compared the meter banding system to a "lottery".

Total Energies provided £1,000 credit to St Peter's account from its support discount fund, in June.

It committed to the contract in April 2022, before finding out what the charges would be for the year (October 2022/September 2023) and is set to opt-out of the contract when possible (October this year).

Total Energies has been contacted for a further comment.