How Many Electricity Customer Classes Are There 2026 — and which one is yours
Your customer class decides which rate you are on, how large your monthly service charge is, and which ladder your bill uses. It is also the field almost nobody looks at, even though it is already printed on their own bill. This page covers how many classes there are, where to read yours, what changes when it changes, and the thing most people have backwards: class 1.1 is not automatically cheaper than 1.2.
MEA's rate schedule divides customers into 7 classes: 1 residential, 2 small business, 3 medium business, 4 large business, 5 specific business, 6 non-profit organisations, and 7 agricultural pumping. Alongside them, temporary supply for construction is priced separately as a further class (class 8). Your class is already printed on your bill, and it is not something you choose — the utility assigns it primarily from how the premises is used. Within residential there is a second split at 150 units a month: class 1.1 with a 8.19 THB monthly service charge and class 1.2 with 24.62 THB, and you are moved between them automatically after three consecutive months either side of the line. The thing most people have backwards is assuming 1.1 is the cheaper one. In fact 1.1 is only cheaper below about 118 units a month; above that 1.2 costs less, because the two ladders are built differently.
The 7 classes, and who each is for
The list comes straight from MEA's rate schedule. PEA uses the same set of classes because both sit on one national base-tariff structure; only the sub-numbering differs. This page deliberately does not print rates for classes 2 to 7, because each carries its own voltage and demand conditions that have to be read from the utility's own schedule.
| Class | Name in the rate schedule | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Residential | Homes of individuals and families, including a rented unit whose meter is in the tenant's own name. Sub-divided into 1.1 and 1.2 at 150 units a month. |
| 2 | Small business | Shops, small offices and general businesses with modest load — including dormitories and apartment blocks whose meter is in the operator's name. |
| 3 | Medium business | Businesses and factories with higher demand; the boundary is set by peak demand and supply voltage. |
| 4 | Large business | Large customers taking supply at high voltage, generally billed on time-of-use rates. |
| 5 | Specific business | Certain businesses with a distinctive load profile, such as hotels and accommodation-letting operations, as designated by the utility. |
| 6 | Non-profit organisations | Bodies and organisations not operating for profit, per the utility's qualifying conditions. |
| 7 | Agricultural pumping | Pumping water for agriculture by government bodies and farmer groups — a different thing from the electricity a farmer's own house uses. |
Beyond those 7, temporary supply for construction and premises without a house registration is priced as a further class (class 8) at a distinctly higher per-unit rate: temporary construction electricity. For the electricity a farmer's own household uses, see agricultural electricity rates.
Where to read your own class, and how MEA and PEA write it differently
Your class is already printed on the bill, usually in the account block near the meter number and the billing month. What stops people finding it is that the two utilities number it differently: MEA writes residential as 1.1 and 1.2, while PEA writes 1.1.1 and 1.1.2. The rates and service charges are identical; only the sub-numbering differs, so 1.1.2 on a PEA bill is 1.2. There are also internal class codes used in the utilities' own systems that need not match what is printed. If you meet a number you do not recognise, the quickest route is to call with your meter number: MEA 1130 or PEA 1129. Not sure which area you are in: MEA versus PEA. For the other fields on the bill: how to read the electricity bill.
What actually differs between 1.1 and 1.2
Two things move together. First the **monthly service charge**, 8.19 → 24.62 THB. Second the **ladder itself**: class 1.1 has 7 sub-tiers while class 1.2 has only 3, and 1.2's first tier is a single flat rate right across the first 150 units. The consequence is not what people expect. The table prices the same consumption under both classes so you can see which is cheaper where. Every cell is computed from the real rates.
| Units a month | Priced as class 1.1 | Priced as class 1.2 | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 units | 179.96 THB | 208.82 THB | 1.1 |
| 100 units | 382.50 THB | 391.29 THB | 1.1 |
| 125 units | 486.28 THB | 482.53 THB | 1.2 |
| 150 units | 590.06 THB | 573.77 THB | 1.2 |
The crossover sits at about 118 units a month: below it class 1.1 is cheaper, above it class 1.2 is. But the class boundary is at 150 units, not 118, so a household using between 118 and 150 units sits in the class that costs it more. That is why the bill falls when you cross the line: at exactly 150 units it is 590.06 THB, at 151 units it is 578.45 THB — 11.61 THB less for one unit more. This is not an arithmetic slip; it is what happens where two rate structures meet. The full ladder is at household electricity rates per unit.
The constraint — your class is not something you choose or manage
The figures above might suggest managing consumption to sit on the cheaper side. That does not work, for two reasons. First, the move is a backward-looking measurement of three consecutive months of actual units — it is not a choice and not an application. Above 150 units for three consecutive months and you are moved to 1.2 the following month; back to 150 or below for three consecutive months and you return. It happens off the meter. Second, the direction people want is usually the wrong one: most try to "stay under 150" believing 1.1 is cheaper, but if you are already using more than 118 units, being classified 1.1 means paying *more*, not less. The only thing genuinely under your control is the number of units, and reducing those saves money in either class. As for the class of a non-residential premises — a dormitory, a shop — that is the utility's determination from how the premises is used, not from the unit count, and describing the use inaccurately to obtain a cheaper rate is giving false information to a public authority, not a saving technique.
What this page cannot decide for the utility
This page can tell you what the classes are and how residential is sub-divided. It cannot tell you which class a premises will be put in if it is not an ordinary home, because the lines between classes 2, 3 and 4 are drawn on peak demand and supply voltage — values you cannot read off a household bill — and classes 5 and 6 carry qualifying conditions the utility sets itself. We have chosen not to guess on your behalf, because guessing wrong here misprices everything downstream. For an answer that binds, ask the body that owns the tariff: MEA hotline 1130 for Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan, PEA hotline 1129 elsewhere. Have your meter number and an accurate description of how the premises is used ready before you call.
Who wrote this
Frank Lee, Founder of CapSolar — a commercial solar design-and-build company in Thailand with 80+ MWp installed across 150+ projects, 100+ clients served and 85K+ tons of CO₂ avoided. The first thing any assessment here has to establish is a building's customer class, because getting it wrong invalidates every figure that follows. This page is written from the same step we actually run.
FAQ
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