Energy Bill Discount Scheme – what it means for your organisation 

The Government has announced the replacement for the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), which  provided financial support to businesses towards their energy bills from October 2022 to March 2023.  

The replacement for EBRS is the Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS), which will be in place from 1st April 2023 for 12 months.  

We will continue to update this page as and when more updates are announced by the government.  

Overview of the scheme 

  • The scheme will be available to everyone on a non-domestic energy supply contract, subject to your current energy supply contract meeting the government’s price threshold. 
  • The discounts will only be applied if your relevant wholesale energy price is above a certain price threshold (also known as the government supported price). Please follow this link to see the government’s published discount rates.  
  • For EBDS, the government supported price for baseline support has been set at: 
    • 30.2p/kWh for electricity  
    • 10.7p/kWh for gas  
  • As is currently the case for the EBRS, the government will publish a spreadsheet with the reference wholesale prices for fixed price contracts, all the way back to 1st December 2021.  
  • The baseline level of support, which are also the maximum discounts for this scheme have been set at: 
    • 1.961p/kWh for electricity
    • 0.697p/kWh for gas  
  • Suppliers will automatically apply reductions to the bills of all eligible non-domestic customers.  

How the Energy Bill Discount Scheme differs from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme 

  • The discount level is less generous.   
    • Under EBDS, the financial support will now be capped. For the previous scheme, there was no cap for fixed rate contracts. EBDS discounts will now be limited to 1.961p/kWh for electricity and 0.697p/kWh, across all contract types. 
  • Variable contract eligibility 
    • The government is reviewing discount eligibility for variable contracts each quarter. For the first two quarters of the scheme (April – September 23), customers on variable contracts will not be eligible for an EBDS discount. This is because the government’s reference wholesale price is below the threshold price to receive a discount. This may change for subsequent quarters, but ultimately depends on government decisions. 
  • Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETIIs)  
    • The information we have provided above relates to standard non-domestic customers. However, one of the major differences is that businesses classified as Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (‘ETII’) will receive more support. 
    • The government determines eligibility for ETIIs. You can find a list of sectors that are in scope here. If you think your organisation is eligible, you must apply directly to the government. 
    • For ETIIs, the government-supported price has been set at: 
      • 18.5p/kWh for electricity 
      • 9.9p/kWh for gas  
    • For ETIIs, the baseline level of support has been set at the following, but it will only apply to 70% of consumption 
      • 8.9p/kWh electricity  
      • 4.0p/kWh for gas 
  • Qualifying Heat Suppliers (QHS) 
    • The government is also offering a higher discount to qualifying heat suppliers. This relates to heat networks with domestic end consumers.  
    • Like with ETII support, eligible organisations must apply directly to the government to qualify for additional support. 
    • However, the QHS discount will be applied differently to the rest of the scheme. There is no maximum discount for QHS. The scheme will support the wholesale element of a heat network’s energy tariff, up to the point that the Minimum Supply Price is achieved.  
    • The Minimum Supply Prices will be set as: 
      • 34p/kWh for electricity 
      • 7.83p/kWh for gas  

Applying for this support 

Frequently Asked Questions

The government supported price is the floor price for this scheme – also known as the minimum supply price. This is the minimum price you can pay once the discount has been applied. If applying the full discount takes your rates below the government supported price, the discount will be capped so that your final supply price is equal to the floor price.  

Exactly like with EBRS, the government supported price acts as a price threshold for receiving a discount. However, the threshold levels have been increased from EBRS.  

For EBDS, the government supported price has been set at: 

  • 30.2p/kWh for electricity (previously 21.1p/kWh under EBRS).  
  • 10.7p/kWh for gas (previously 7.5p/kWh under EBRS).  

Good Energy will automatically apply the discount to customer accounts that meet the government’s eligibility criteria. You do not need to apply to receive the baseline EBDS support. If you believe your organisation meets the government’s criteria for the enhanced Energy and Trade Intensive (ETII) discount, you will need to apply directly to the government to receive certification. The government will inform Good Energy of businesses that have successfully qualified for this enhanced support.  

Good Energy will automatically apply the discount to customer accounts that meet the government’s eligibility criteria. You do not need to apply to receive the baseline EBDS support. If you believe your organisation meets the government’s criteria for the enhanced Energy and Trade Intensive (ETII) discount, you will need to apply directly to the government to receive certification. The government will inform Good Energy of businesses that have successfully qualified for this enhanced support.  

The principles remain the same as under the previous scheme (EBRS). The discount is calculated as the difference between the wholesale price associated with an energy contract and the price threshold.  

If your relevant wholesale price is higher than the price threshold, you will be entitled to a discount, up to the maximum discount. 

If you qualify as an ETII, the same principle remains, albeit with a higher maximum discount and lower price thresholds. The ETII discount is only applicable to 70% of energy volumes. The baseline level of support will be automatically applied to the remaining 30% of volumes, subject to this being above the baseline threshold.  

The government has decided to reduce the total level of support available to the non-domestic sector under this scheme. EBDS is a twelve-month scheme, estimated to cost £5.5bn to the government. It’s predecessor, EBRS, was a six-month scheme and estimated to cost £18bn.  

The government have also decided to cap discounts for customers on fixed contracts under EBDS. This marks a significant policy change from the previous scheme.  

This will depend on your own contractual arrangement. However, due to the government increasing the price threshold for this scheme, it may mean some customers will no longer be eligible, despite receiving a discount under EBRS.  

For more information about the eligibility criteria for EBDS, please check the government’s website here. 

You can find all the instructions via this page on gov.co.uk. At a minimum, you will need to provide: 

  • contact details 
  • registered name and address 
  • company registration number (if you have one) 
  • up to 4 ETII eligible SIC codes 
  • whether you pay bills directly to an energy supplier and details of any intermediaries involved (such as a landlord) 
  • the names of gas and/or electricity suppliers 
  • the gas or electricity meter point numbers (MPRN or MPAN) associated with the property, found on your bill from your energy supplier 
  • the name of your organisation as it appears on your bill from your energy supplier(s)

We recognise this will be a concerning time for some. We recommend providing an actual meter reading before your bill is due to make sure you only pay for what you’ve used. 

If you have an online portal, you’ll get a notification with a link to submit a reading 5 days before your bill is issued. If you have not signed up to our online portal, you won’t get a notification so may need to track your bills manually. If you think a notification would be useful and haven’t yet signed up for an online account, contact the team on sme-support@goodenergy.co.uk so we can give you the details you need to set this up. 

Independent support and advice is available with the following organisations: 

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