Plans for business
On 21 September 2022 the government announced a new scheme, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which is designed to cut energy prices for non-domestic energy customers, such as businesses, charities and public sector organisations. The new scheme is in addition to the recently announced Energy Price Guarantee for households.
The scheme will apply to fixed contracts agreed on or after 1 April 2022 in addition to deemed, variable and flexible tariffs and contracts. Running for an initial six-month period, the scheme will apply to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. According to the government, savings will first be seen in businesses’ October bills.
Businesses are not required to take action or apply for the scheme, support will be automatically applied to bills.
The government intends to conduct a review of the scheme in three months to assess:
- how effective it has been in giving support to vulnerable, non-domestic customers
- which groups of non-domestic customers remain vulnerable to energy price rises
- the extent to which the scheme could either be extended or further targeted.
Support after 31 March 2023 will be determined following the review.
Plans for households
Prime Minister Liz Truss announced the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) for households on 8 September 2022 which will apply from the start of October 2022. The EPG means that an average household will pay no more than £2,500 per year for each of the next two years. It comes in addition to the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme and will save the average household at least £1,000.
The EPG limits the price suppliers can charge customers for energy supplies. This takes account of temporarily removing green levies, worth around £150, from household bills. The guarantee will supersede the existing energy price cap.
Under the plan, those households who do not pay directly for mains gas and electricity, such as those living in park homes or on heat networks, will be no worse off and will receive support through a new fund.
The government estimates that the EPG will deliver substantial benefits to the economy, boosting growth and curbing inflation by four to five percentage points, which will in turn reduce the cost of servicing the national debt.
The government will provide energy suppliers with the difference between this new lower price and what energy retailers would charge their customers if this were not in place. Schemes previously funded by green levies will also continue to be funded by the government during this two-year period to ensure the UK’s investment in homegrown, secure renewable technologies continues.