Government Announces Energy Bill Relief Scheme

Today (Wednesday 21st September), a new support scheme has been divulged to protect non-domestic energy customers, such as businesses, charities, and public sector organisations.

The scheme is a bid to prevent the unnecessary closure of businesses, resulting in a rise in unemployment, and instead encourage and support growth.

A discount will be provided on wholesale gas and electricity from the government and will be equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee in place for households.

To be applied to fixed contracts agreed on or after 1st April, as well as deemed, variable, and flexible tariffs and contracts, the discount will be applicable to usage from 1st October 2022 to 31st March 2023, an initial 6-month period. The government will publish a review of the operation of the scheme 3 months in to make a decision on future support past the end of March.

Customers need not apply to the scheme in order to receive the support, the discount will be automatically applied to bills and visible in the October nill, typically received in November.

To read more about the scheme, please read the full announcement here.