In last week’s column I wrote about the Energy Price Guarantee – a package of unprecedented assistance which will ensure that the typical household pays no more that £2,500 a year on their energy bill and saving them, on average, £1,000 compared to what energy prices would otherwise be without this intervention.
We have now received further guidance on what support will be put in place to help businesses with their energy costs. I am pleased to see this as I regularly speak with local business owners and know that they are facing great pressures at the moment.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide protections for all businesses, voluntary sector and public sector organisations which face excessively high energy bills over the winter period. To administer support, the Government has set a Supported Wholesale Price of less than half the wholesale prices anticipated this winter. Suppliers will pass the reduction in the wholesale price through to their customers.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will run initially for 6 months covering energy use from 1 October 2022 until 31 March 2023. The Government will publish a review of the scheme after 3 months. This review will consider how best to offer further support to customers who are the most vulnerable to energy price increases. These are likely to be those who are least able to adjust, for example by reducing energy usage or increasing energy efficiency.
I have paid particularly close attention to how support will be delivered to homes and businesses which are off the gas grid. I have been reassured by the Government’s position that those households who use, for example, heating oil or LPG, will receive the equivalent support to any other but have nonetheless been asking questions of Ministers, both in the House of Commons and privately, on how this equivalent support will work as I know that a large proportion of people in the Forest of Dean are off the gas grid. I will continue to ask similar questions on behalf of my constituents in the coming weeks.
🏠The Government say off-grid homes will receive the same support as any other this Winter, but how will this equivalence be ensured?
🙋♂️My question to the Business Secretary @Jacob_Rees_Mogg 👇 pic.twitter.com/QVRPBMdI25
— Mark Harper (@Mark_J_Harper) September 22, 2022
This article was first published in The Forester newspaper.