Updates to the energy bill relief scheme

With the government energy bills discount scheme coming to an end this month, what discounts can be expected from the new energy bill relief scheme?

The new energy bill relief scheme will run from April 1, 2023 until March 31, 2024, and it will continue to support businesses and pubic sector organisations by providing a discount and wholesale gas and electricity prices.

However, the government has made it clear that the new scheme remains a time-limited opportunity for businesses to adapt to challenging circumstances – as it stands, wholesale gas prices have now fallen to level just being the start of the Ukraine war and have almost halved since the initial energy bill discount scheme was announced.

As with the original scheme, suppliers will automatically apply reductions to the bills of all eligible no-domestic customers, and eligible Energy and Trade Intensive Industry (EETI) customers will have to apply for the higher level of support. Further details on how this will work will be published in due course.

If you do any of the following types of work, you may be eligible for a higher level of support under the ETII scheme. This includes the manufacturing of:

• Pulp
• Paper and paperboard
• Corrugated paper and paperboard
• Containers of paper and paperboard
• Household and sanitary goods
• Toilet requisites
• Paper stationery
• Other articles of paper or paperboard
• Other rubber products
• Other plastic products

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.

And the maximum discounts for EETI 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.