The government have announced that the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) will be replaced by a less supportive package called Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS).
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) will expire on 31st March 2023, with The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) taking its place, as the government recognised that ongoing support is necessary. The support package will work similarly to EBRS from 01st April 2023 to 31st March 2024, with a lower level of support available for eligible non-domestic energy contracts. As with the original scheme, suppliers will automatically apply reductions to the bills of all eligible customers.
Eligibility:
The new scheme will be available to everyone on a non-domestic contract including:
- businesses
- voluntary sector organisations, such as charities
- public sector organisations such as schools, hospitals, and care homes
Who are:
- on existing fixed price contracts that were agreed on or after 1 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)
What support you will get:
From 1st April, the following support will apply to those who are eligible:
Electricity – If the wholesale price exceeds £302 per MWh (30.2p per kWh), a maximum discount of £19.61 per MWh (1.961p per kWh) will be applied.
Gas – If the wholesale price exceeds £107 per MWh (10.7p per kWh), a maximum discount of £6.97 per MWh (0.697p per kWh) will be applied.
There is additional support for Energy and Trade Intensive Users (ETIIs):
Electricity – If the wholesale price exceeds £185 per MWh (18.5p per kWh), a maximum discount of £89 per MWh (8.9p per kWh) will be applied.
Gas – If the wholesale price exceeds £99 per MWh (9.9 per kWh), a maximum discount of £40 per MWh (4.0p per kWh) will be applied.
ETII eligibility is determined by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. A list of the qualifying processes has been created and is available here.
ETII relief will have to be requested separately, (EBDS is applied automatically), but the mechanism for how this is done is yet to be announced.
You can find the official announcement on the EBDS scheme here.
Information on the current EBRS reference wholesale price and discounts applied can be found here.
If you have questions about how the EBRS or EBDS support package impacts your business, or concerns over securing your energy renewal in the current energy market, speak with one of our energy experts today.
