Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills for businesses
23 September 2022
Government outlines plans to help cut energy bills for businesses
Support for households, businesses and public sector organisations facing rising energy bills has been unveiled.
- New government scheme will see energy prices for non-domestic energy customers such as businesses, charities and public sector organisations cut – protecting them from rising energy costs
- government work with suppliers will reduce wholesale energy costs – and the significant rises in bills that businesses have seen
- this support is in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee for households, with further measures today to strengthen support for families across the United Kingdom, including those in rentals or park homes
New support for households, businesses and public sector organisations facing rising energy bills in Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been unveiled by Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg today (Wednesday 21 September) – supporting growth, preventing unnecessary insolvencies and protecting jobs.
Through a new government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers (including all UK businesses, the voluntary sector like charities and the public sector such as schools and hospitals) whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices. This support will be equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee put in place for households.
It will apply to fixed contracts agreed on or after 1 April 2022, as well as to deemed, variable and flexible tariffs and contracts. It will apply to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, running for an initial 6 month period for all non-domestic energy users. The savings will be first seen in October bills, which are typically received in November.
As with the Energy Price Guarantee for households, customers do not need to take action or apply to the scheme to access the support. Support (in the form of a p/kWh discount) will automatically be applied to bills.
To administer support, the government has set a Supported Wholesale Price – expected to be £211 per MWh for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas, less than half the wholesale prices anticipated this winter – which is a discounted price per unit of gas and electricity. This is equivalent to the wholesale element of the Energy Price Guarantee for households. It includes the removal of green levies paid by non-domestic customers who receive support under the scheme.
