The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published the Energy Price Guarantee scheme documents on 31 October 2022, with the page last updated on 29 December 20231. The documents are described as technical material for energy suppliers and scheme administrators, rather than for households, and cover domestic gas and electricity consumers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland1.
The published files comprise four scheme documents: electricity and gas for Great Britain, and electricity and gas for Northern Ireland, alongside ministerial directions for Northern Ireland1. The Great Britain documents were updated to November 2023 versions, running to 81 pages for electricity and 86 pages for gas; the Northern Ireland documents run to 56 pages for electricity and 42 pages for gas1. The page states that the documents are the agreements between the government, energy suppliers and scheme administrators that enable delivery of the scheme to households across the UK, and that they were intended to be formally recognised by Parliament through regulations laid under the Energy Prices Act1.
The page records a sequence of updates. Northern Ireland scheme documents were added on 2 November 2022, a link to Northern Ireland ministerial directions followed on 4 January 2023, and on 27 September 2023 the Great Britain documents were updated to allow the scheme to provide a discount via standing charges to consumers1. The November 2023 versions for Great Britain gas and electricity were added on 29 December 20231.
"This publication was withdrawn on 13 June 2025"
The same page states that the Energy Price Guarantee scheme is now closed1. It also carries a note that one file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology, with a route to request an accessible format1.
| Document | Coverage | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity scheme document, updated November 2023 | Great Britain | 81 |
| Gas scheme document, updated November 2023 | Great Britain | 86 |
| Electricity scheme document | Northern Ireland | 56 |
| Gas scheme document | Northern Ireland | 42 |
Why it matters for households
The Energy Price Guarantee was the mechanism that limited the unit cost of domestic gas and electricity for households across the UK, and these documents are the administrative record of how it was delivered through suppliers1. For a household, the practical effect ran through the standing charge as well as the unit rate: the September 2023 update explicitly allowed the scheme to provide a discount via standing charges, which is the fixed daily amount billed regardless of how much energy is used1. That distinction matters to energy bills and energy independence, because a discount applied to standing charges changes the fixed cost of having a supply, while a discount on unit rates changes the cost of each kilowatt hour consumed.
The withdrawal of the publication and the statement that the scheme is closed mean the documents no longer describe a live arrangement1. Households dealing with arrears built up during the period are directed elsewhere: the page points to separate consumer guidance rather than the scheme documents themselves1. Support routes that remain relevant to energy debt include the British Gas Energy Trust and the Energy Debt Relief Scheme. The wider price cap arrangements that succeeded the guarantee are covered separately.
What happens next
No further updates to the scheme documents have been reported. The page records that the publication was withdrawn on 13 June 2025 and that the scheme is closed1.