The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) heat network support guidance was updated on 31 January 2024 to add the Minimum Supply Prices applying from 1 February 20241. The scheme pays support to heat suppliers, who are required by law to pass the benefit on to their domestic customers1.
The Minimum Supply Prices changed on 1 February 2024. For all existing Variable, Flexible and DAI contracts, and for fixed contracts entered into on or after 1 February 2024, the rates are 28.24p per kWh for electricity and 6.50p per kWh for gas1. These replaced the rates that applied from 1 April 2023 to 31 January 2024: £340 per MWh for electricity and £78.3 per MWh for gas. For fixed contracts entered into before 1 February 2024, the earlier rates remain effective until 31 March 20241.
| Period | Electricity | Gas |
|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2023 to 31 January 2024 | £340 per MWh | £78.3 per MWh |
| 1 February 2024 onwards | 28.24p per kWh | 6.50p per kWh |
The scheme aims to bring the retail energy prices paid by heat suppliers down to a target heat network Minimum Supply Price through reductions in the wholesale element of the bill. There are no maximum discounts or wholesale price thresholds for heat networks, which the guidance says is different from the approach taken for other parts of the EBDS or the Energy Bill Relief Scheme1.
"Heat suppliers that have heat networks with domestic end consumers will be required by law to apply for this support and pass on the benefit they receive to their end consumers."
The guidance states that households on heat networks do not need to apply, and that their heat supplier must apply on their behalf and pass through any discount1. It says the support should ensure domestic customers on heat networks do not face disproportionately higher heat and hot water bills than customers in equivalent households supported by the Energy Price Guarantee1. Where a domestic customer believes a discount has not been passed on in a just and reasonable way, and cannot resolve the complaint with the heat network, the guidance points to alternative dispute resolution through the Energy Ombudsman in Great Britain and the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland1.
Why it matters for households
For a household whose home is heated through a heat network rather than by its own boiler or direct energy tariff, the price it pays is set by the heat supplier, not by the energy price cap or by a tariff the household chooses. The Minimum Supply Price is the mechanism intended to hold the wholesale element of that supplier's costs down, and the pass-through requirement is what connects it to the household bill. The change on 1 February 2024 reset the level at which that support stops, so the amount a supplier can recover through the scheme changed from that date. Households on heat networks have no application to make and no direct control over whether the discount reaches them; the guidance places both the application and the pass-through duty on the supplier1.
What happens next
The guidance records that the scheme closed to new applications on 31 March 2024, with an exception for heat suppliers who became aware on or after 18 March 2024 that they were a heat supplier or had a qualifying heat network, who had until 14 April 2024 to apply1. The guidance was withdrawn on 1 April 2025 and states that you cannot apply for the scheme anymore1. No further Minimum Supply Price changes after 1 February 2024 are reported in the guidance.