The government has confirmed that support to help with rising energy bills will be introduced for domestic customers in Northern Ireland and for off-grid homes, following the earlier announcement of the Energy Price Guarantee for England, Scotland and Wales1. The confirmation was reported on 22 September 20221.
For Northern Ireland, energy suppliers will reduce unit rates by up to 17p per kWh for electricity and 4.2p per kWh for gas, with the same discounts applied to pre-payment meter customers' current unit rates1. This support takes effect from November but is backdated to 1 October, and no action is required to benefit from the guarantee1. Households in Northern Ireland will also receive a £400 discount on electricity bills through the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme, again with no action required1. Customers there who use alternative fuels such as heating oil instead of mains gas will receive an extra £100 payment to compensate for price increases1.
Off-grid households, including those living in park homes or on heat networks, had so far been excluded from the two support schemes already announced1. They will now receive support equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee, which reduces unit rates for domestic customers, and will be included in the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme discount1. How that £400 is paid is still being worked out and tested1. People who do not use the gas network for heating, such as those using heating oil, will not benefit from the reduction of gas bills by 4.2p per kWh, and the additional £100 payment is intended to compensate for the rising costs of alternative fuels1. The cost of kerosene heating oil rose sharply in the past year and in July 2022 sat at around 99p per litre, with around 1.5 million homes in the UK using oil to heat their homes, including many in Northern Ireland1.
A new Energy Bill Relief Scheme is being rolled out for non-domestic energy customers in England, Scotland and Wales, with a similar scheme to be established in Northern Ireland with a comparable level of support1. Businesses, charities, schools, care homes and hospitals will see a reduction in their energy unit rates from October, capped at £211 per MWh for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas, with the discount applied to bills in pence per kWh1. The scheme lasts six months with a review published after three months1. Where people pay for energy via a commercial business, such as park home residents paying the park owner, the business owner receives the Energy Bill Relief Scheme discounts and should pass the savings on to tenants; the government is introducing legislation so that landlords have to pass the benefit directly on to residents1.
"The government has confirmed that support to help with rising energy bills will be introduced for domestic customers in Northern Ireland and for off-grid homes."
| Group | Electricity | Gas | Additional payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland households | Unit rates cut by up to 17p per kWh | Unit rates cut by 4.2p per kWh | £400 discount on electricity bills; £100 for alternative fuels |
| Off-grid households | Equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee | Not applicable | £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme discount; £100 for alternative fuels |
Why it matters for households
Northern Ireland has a separate energy market from Great Britain, and households there had been waiting for clarity on how the government would help with their bills1. The confirmed package means the unit-rate reduction, the £400 discount and the £100 alternative fuels payment apply there as well as to homes off the main grid, so households that use heating oil and other off-grid fuels are no longer outside the main schemes1. For a home's energy independence, the support lowers the running cost of the fuels a household already uses rather than changing what it uses; the £100 payment recognises that homes without a gas connection cannot benefit from the 4.2p per kWh gas reduction at all1. The Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme are applied automatically, so no application is needed1.
What happens next
The Northern Ireland unit-rate support takes effect from November and is backdated to 1 October1. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme for non-domestic customers runs for six months, with a review published after three months1. Further details on how the off-grid £400 discount will be paid are promised shortly, and the method is still being worked out and tested1.