From 1st April, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme will be replaced with the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Here's how will it affect your business.
The new Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) represents a drastic cut on the previous Energy Bills Relief Scheme. The current scheme is worth £18bn whereas the replacement will be capped at £5.5bn. It will run until the end of March 2024. We take a closer look at what the new support programme entails.
Am I eligible for the Energy Bills Discount Scheme?
Businesses eligible for the Energy Bills Discount Scheme are:
On existing fixed price contracts that were agreed on or after1st December 2021.
Signing new fixed price contracts.
On deemed / out of contract or standard variable tariffs.
On flexible purchase or similar contracts.
On variable ‘Day Ahead Index’ (DAI) tariffs (Northern Ireland scheme only).
Businesses are set to receive a per-unit discount on their energy bills during the 12-month period, up to a maximum discount. The relative discount will be applied if wholesale prices go above a certain price threshold. For most businesses, these are:
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.
Most businesses won’t have to do anything; your energy provider will automatically apply the discounts to the bills of eligible customers. The discount will be applied in pence per kilowatt hour.
