Discounts will be applied to energy usage initially between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023.

You do not need to do anything to obtain a discount on the basis of the scheme. The p/kWh government support for comparable contracts will be the same across suppliers, but the absolute level of individual bills will of course continue to vary.

The discount is automatically applied to bills. If you get a message asking for your bank details, this could be a scam. You can report messages you think are suspicious.

Note that Third party intermediaries (TPIs) / energy brokers have no influence over the per unit cost reductions that will be applied to energy costs under the scheme, and you do not have to take out a new contract or change your contract for appropriate reductions to automatically be applied to your bills.

The 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 leisure centres.

who are:

• On existing fixed price contracts that were agreed on or after 1 December 2021.
• Signing or in the process of signing new fixed price contracts.
• On deemed/out of contract or standard variable tariffs.
• On variable ‘day ahead’ tariffs.
• On flexible purchase contracts.

The scheme is intended to be broadly applied but there may be very limited exclusions, for example businesses that use gas or electricity for the purpose of generating power they are selling back into the grid, such as power stations, pumped hydro or grid-level battery storage.

The scheme is intended to provide relief on energy bills. Non-domestic suppliers and consumers should not profit from the scheme. Any such activity may result in a reduction in support and those involved may be liable to further penalties.

Comparable support will also be provided for non-domestic consumers who use LPG, heating oil or alternative fuels instead of natural gas. Further detail on this will be announced shortly.

The government will provide a discount on your gas and electricity unit prices. To calculate your discount, the estimated wholesale portion of the unit price you would be paying this winter will be compared to a baseline ‘government supported price’ which is lower than currently expected wholesale prices this winter.

For all non-domestic energy users in Northern Ireland this government supported price has been set at:

• £211 per megawatt hour (MWh) for electricity and
• £75 per MWh for gas

This level will ensure consistency with businesses and consumers in Great Britain. It will not be the same as the final per unit price paid by non-domestic customers, which will also reflect other costs such as network charges and operating costs, plus the impact of competition between suppliers.

Suppliers will apply reductions to the bills of all eligible non-domestic customers.

The discount applied will be in pence per Kilowatt Hour (p/kWh). The p/kWh government support for comparable contracts will be the same across suppliers, but the absolute level of individual bills will continue to vary across different contracts and tariffs.

The gas and electricity wholesale markets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain are closely correlated so the discounts to be applied in Northern Ireland will be calculated using data from Great Britain.

For variable, deemed and all other contracts, the discount will reflect the difference between the government supported price and relevant wholesale price, but be subject to a maximum discount.

The maximum discount has been calculated by comparing the government supported price with the average of expected wholesale prices (in Great Britain) for delivery across the 6 months of the scheme. The maximum discount, set on 30 September 2022, is £345/MWh for electricity and £91/MWh for gas.

If wholesale prices rise above the combined government supported price and maximum discount then your prices will increase.

For fixed contracts the discount will be calculated in a comparable way to the method used in the EBRS GB scheme, and will reflect anticipated prices over the winter in the relevant gas and electricity wholesale markets (in Great Britain) for the day the contact was agreed.

You do not need to do anything to obtain a discount on the basis of the scheme. The p/kWh government support for comparable contracts will be the same across suppliers, but the absolute level of individual bills will of course continue to vary.

Suppliers are required to ensure that where discounts are being applied under the scheme, they are subject to a price floor set at the government supported price for gas and electricity. This means that the effective retail unit price for a customer’s gas and electricity (inclusive of wholesale, network, policy and supplier costs, but exclusive of VAT and Climate Change Levy) does not fall below the government supported price for each once their discounts have been applied. This is to ensure consistency of support and avoid unintended consequences in some circumstances, such as a customer’s retail unit prices turning negative after a discount is applied under scheme.

Note that Third party intermediaries (TPIs) / energy brokers have no influence over the per unit cost reductions that will be applied to energy costs under the scheme, and you do not have to take out a new contract or change your contract for appropriate reductions to automatically be applied to your bills.

If you signed your fixed rate contract before 1 December 2021, you would not have been exposed to the recent rises in wholesale prices, so you will not be eligible for support under the scheme

This support package only applies to fixed rate contracts signed after 1 December 2021, as it was from that point the more drastic wholesale price rises have taken effect. If you signed your fixed rate contract before 1 December 2021 you will not be eligible for support under this scheme until such time as your contract expires and you agree a new fixed term contract or step down to standard variable rates.

If you are out of contract and are waiting to see the details of government support, you should set up your new contract as normal. Flogas NI/ Budget Energy will automatically apply appropriate reductions to your energy price for the duration of the scheme.

Businesses and other organisation are expected to pass on the benefits under this scheme through to the end user in a reasonable and proportionate way. This will ensure support, for instance, to customers of heat networks and park home residents.

The UK Government will publish a review into the operation of the scheme in 3 months’ time, to inform decisions on future support after March 2023. The review will focus in particular on identifying the most vulnerable non-domestic customers and how the Government will continue assisting them with energy costs. These are likely to be those who are least able to adjust, for example by reducing energy usage or increasing energy efficiency.

It’s important that users who are less vulnerable to energy price increases (particularly larger businesses that are not energy-intensive) use the 6 months support provided by the scheme to identify measures they can take to protect themselves against high energy prices.