Every business energy contract includes a standing charge, a fixed amount payable every day regardless of consumption. It is the cost of being connected to the grid and having a live supply, entirely independent of usage.
The standing charge bundles several fixed costs of supply. The largest component is typically the network standing charge, the portion of your distribution network costs that is fixed rather than related to consumption. There is also a supplier administration element and in some cases a separate meter rental or data collection charge.
Standing charges for the same site can vary significantly between supplier quotes because suppliers choose how to apportion their total required revenue between the fixed and variable elements of their tariff. For lower consumption sites, a high standing charge is generally unfavourable. The comparison must be done on the basis of your actual consumption, not headline rates.
Standing charge duplication is an error we find more often than it should occur, particularly on sites that changed supplier mid year. The overcharge is recoverable.