Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide much needed short-term reassurance for business

The Government has today published details of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will protect businesses from the worst of the current increases in international energy prices, by providing a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices.

The scheme will apply to energy usage from 1^st October 2022 to 31^st March 2023, running for an initial six-month period for all non-domestic energy users. Customers do not need to take any action, as the support will be automatically 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.

Responding to the detail of the scheme, Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:

“This is an important intervention by the government and provides much needed short-term reassurance for the numerous firms that are facing soaring energy bills.

“We particularly welcome the decision to include all contracts signed since 1^st April 2022 within the scope of the new arrangements, and also the commitment to work with suppliers to ensure all businesses currently on variable contracts have the option of a fixing rate deal that benefits from the government support price. Currently around 1 in 4 firms are on variable arrangements so it is important they are now given maximum certainty to help them plan.

“We look forward to working with the government in the coming months to ensure that any further relief is carefully targeted at those industries and sectors whose survival is most threatened by current economic conditions.

“Ultimately, however, business and government will need to work hand in hand to develop domestic energy sources and reduce consumption and dependency on expensive fossil fuels.”

Further detail on the Energy Bill Relief Scheme can be found here.