The Government has this week announced a new energy scheme for businesses, charities and the public sector, ahead of the current scheme ending in March.
All eligible UK businesses and other non-domestic energy users will receive a discount on energy bills until the end of March 2024. This follows the unprecedented package of support for non-domestic users through this winter, worth £18 billion. This scheme will strike a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limit the taxpayers exposure to volatile energy markets.
Further details of this support can be seen below:
- From 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, all eligible non-domestic customers who have a contract with a licensed energy supplier will see a unit discount of up to £6.97/MWh automatically applied to their gas bill and a unit discount of up to £19.61/MWh applied to their electricity bill.
- This will be subject to a wholesale price threshold, set with reference to the support provided for domestic consumers, of £107/MWh for gas and £302/MWh for electricity. This means that businesses experiencing energy costs below this level will not receive support.
- Customers do not need to apply for their discount. As with the current scheme, suppliers will automatically apply reductions to the bills of all eligible non-domestic customers
For eligible Energy and Trade Intensive Industries, the government is announcing:
- These businesses will receive a discount reflecting the difference between a price threshold and the relevant wholesale price.
- The price threshold for the scheme will be £99/MWh for gas and £185/MWh for electricity.
- This discount will only apply to 70% of energy volumes and will be subject to a ‘maximum discount’ of £40.0/MWh for gas and £89.1/MWh for electricity.
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