Action needed from Energy and Trade Intensive Industries regarding the Energy Bills Discount Scheme
From 1 April 2023 a higher level of support will be provided to non-domestic customers in the sectors published here due to their Energy and Trade Intensive nature.
To be eligible for the higher level of support organisations must meet the following criteria:
- Be on a non-domestic contact from a licensed energy supplier,
- Be on an existing fixed price contract agreed on or after 1 December 2021, signing a new fixed contract, a deemed contract, on a flexible purchase (or similar) contract, or a variable ‘Day Ahead Index’ tariffs (Northern Ireland only)
- Operate primarily within an eligible sector. Operating primarily within an eligible sector means that 50% or more of the organisation’s revenue for the financial year 2021/22 fell within an eligible sector. The list of SIC codes available here acts as a proxy for the sectors eligible for the higher level of support.
- The organisation physically consuming the energy will need to be the one to apply for the higher discount.
- For Local Authority entities, eligibility will be determined at a premise level. Where there are no relevant accounts, the Local Authority will be required to declare that at least 50% of the space is taken up by operations within an eligible sector.
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 discount is likely to show up as one line on your bill as suppliers will do one calculation for the overall discount you are owed.
Eligible organisations will need to apply for the higher support via a digital portal that will open on the EBDS gov.uk page on 3rd April 2023. Organisations will need to provide information on their organisation, energy supplier, relevant energy supply contract(s) references and applicable metre point references.
The 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.
Find out about the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) for non-domestic customers: Energy Bills Discount Scheme – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
