In addition to the updates to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and the Energy Price Guarantee in Northern Ireland, the government today (21 September) has updated the details of its £400 discount.
The Energy Bills Support Scheme – as the discount has been dubbed – will now also be available to the 1% of households that weren’t previously expected to receive it. This includes park home residents and those tenants whose landlords pay for their energy via a commercial contract for example.
According to a statement from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the government is committed to ensuring households all receive the same support for their energy bills.
To support this extension, new legislation will be introduced to make sure landlords pass on the Energy Bills Support Scheme payment of £400 spread over six months from October to their tenants who pay all-inclusive bills.
Additionally, a payment of £100 will be made available to households across the UK who are not able to receive support for their heating costs through the Energy Price Guarantee. This will include those that live in areas not served by the gas grid for example, and is designed to provide compensation for the rising cost of alternative fuels such as heating oil.
The extended support comes in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee, which has capped unit rates for domestic customers in Britain. As such, standard variable tariff direct debit bills will be limited to 34.0p/kWh for electricity and 10.3p/kWh for gas, inclusive of VAT, from 1 October.
While those on fixed tariffs at a higher rate in GB than the new price freeze, due to the recent energy price rises, will see their unit prices reduced by 17p/kWh for electricity and 4.2p/kWh for gas from 1 October.
In Northern Ireland, the Energy Price Guarantee will see a unit price reduction for electricity and gas of up to 17p/kWh and 4.2p/kWh respectively.
BEIS also unveiled how the Energy Bill Relief Scheme – the support scheme for businesses – will be rolled out today, announcing plans to almost halve the predicted MWh price for electricity and gas for businesses this winter, to £211/MWh and £75/MWh respectively.
On Friday 23, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is set to unveil a mini budget, which will include how these support measures will be funded. The Conservative Party have already ruled out another windfall tax of oil and gas companies, the mechanism by which the Energy Bills Support Scheme will be funded.
