Updated information on UK Government Energy Bills Discount Scheme – including support for visitor attractions
Added: 07 Apr 2023
The UK Government has published new details on the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) for non-domestic customers. The scheme will run for 12 months from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2023, and this scheme replaces the previous Energy Bill Relief Scheme which ran from 1st October 2022 to 31st March 2023.
From 11st April 2023, there will a greater level of support for non-domestic customers in certain eligible sectors designated as Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (the list of which is published here). This includes museums, libraries, historic sites and buildings and other similar visitor attractions.
Eligible organisations will need to apply for the higher support via a digital portal, and will need to provide information on their organisation, energy supplier, relevant energy supply contract references and applicable meter point references.
To be eligible, organisations must meet the following criteria:
- Be on a non-domestic contract from a licensed energy supplier.
- Be on an existing fixed price contract agreed on or after 1st December 2021, signing a new fixed contract, a deemed contract, or on a flexible purchase (or similar) contract.
- Operate primarily in an eligible sector. Operating primarily within an eligible sector means that 50% or more of the organisation’s revenue for the 21/22 financial year fell within an eligible sector.
- The organisation physically consuming the energy must be the one to apply for the higher discount.
The higher level of discount will apply to 70% of energy volumes and will be subject to a maximum discount of £40.0/MWh for gas and £89.1/MWh for electricity. The universal level of support will be automatically applied for the remaining 30% of energy volumes.
The UK Government will determine eligibility based on the application. In some instances, further validation of eligibility may be required meaning that the organisation will be asked for additional information. The Government will use Companies House data, eligibility for other Energy Intensive Industry (EII) compensation schemes and other data sources to make the initial determination.
Questions about the scheme can be put directly to the relevant officials at ebrs@beis.gov.uk.
For more information and to apply, please click here.