Energy Bill Relief Scheme 2023

The Government yesterday announced the outcome of the review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, and published guidance. The scheme comprises two elements – support for all businesses, charities, and public sector organisations, and support at a higher level for energy and trade intensive industries. Critically, museums are included in this latter group of eligible sectors, as are libraries and archives, historical sites and buildings, and zoos.

Support for all non-domestic customers:

As per the current scheme the government will provide a discount on gas and electricity unit prices. Eligible non-domestic consumers will now receive a per-unit discount to their energy bills during the 12-month period from April 2023 to March 2024, subject to a maximum discount. The relative discount will be applied if wholesale prices are above a certain price threshold. For most non-domestic energy users in Great Britain and Northern Ireland these maximum discounts have been set at:

• electricity – £19.61 per megawatt hour (MWh) with a price threshold of £302 per MWh.
• gas – £6.97 per MWh with a price threshold of £107 per MWh

The discount is calculated as the difference between the wholesale price associated with an energy contract and the price threshold. The discount is phased in when the contract’s wholesale price exceeds the floor price, until the total discount per MWh reaches the maximum discount for that fuel.  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.

Support at a higher level:

Recognising that some non-domestic energy users in Great Britain and Northern Ireland are particularly vulnerable to high energy prices due to their energy intensive and trade exposure, (referred to as Energy and Trade Intensive Industries or ETIIs), these sectors will receive a higher level of support, subject to a maximum discount. The maximum discounts and price threshold for these sectors are:

• electricity – £89 per MWh with a price threshold of £185 per MWh
• gas – £40 per MWh with a price threshold of £99 per MWh

Museums and other eligible organisations will need to apply for the higher level of support.  Once the mechanics of the scheme have been finalised we will share details.

Further info can be found here:

Guidance

Press release

Eligible sectors

Factsheet