Government publishes details of help with energy bills

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy set out further details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), which will provide energy bill discounts to 29 million households, as part of the government’s £37 million Cost of Living Support Package. The £400 discount will be paid over 6 months, starting from October 2022, allowing families to receive support throughout winter. Households will see a discount of £66 applied to their energy bills in October and November, and then £67 from December to March.

Customers using traditional prepayment meters will receive energy bill discount vouchers in the first week of each month, and these will be provided through text, email, or post. As an extra layer of security, recipients’ bank details will not be used as ministers urge customers to stay alert for scams.

In cases where there are fixed energy charges, landlords who resell energy to their tenants should pass discounted payments to their tenants and participate in the scheme.

Further details on the package include:

• Funding being made available to provide equivalent support of £400 to the 1% of households that will not be reached by the scheme. A further announcement regarding this will be made this autumn
• Direct Debit customers will receive the Energy Bill discount automatically as a deduction to the monthly direct debit or as a refund to the customer’s bank account
• Standard credit customers will see the discount applied automatically as a credit to their accounts within the first week of each month of EBSS delivery
• Steps will be taken to protect customers from the risk of fraud and suppliers will be expected to report what actions they are taking to ensure the support has been passed to consumers
• Households most in need will also be eligible for further support

The EBSS will apply to consumers in England, Scotland and Wales, but the government is “urgently working” to ensure the people of Northern Ireland receive the same support.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, said the government has a responsibility to step in where they can and that this discount will “go some way to help millions of families over the colder months”.