British Gas announced a series of customer support packages totalling £140 million by February 2024, with the first of them dating from August 20221. The figure is set out by the British Gas Energy Trust, the independent charity that shares the company's name, in a thought piece published on 22 January 2025 by its chief executive, Jessica Taplin1.
The Trust says it has received nearly £200 million to fund grants and initiatives combating fuel poverty since it was established in 20041. It describes British Gas's anti-fuel-poverty work as voluntary and dependent on sustained profitability, and warns that policy decisions at Westminster can reduce funding to existing projects, naming charities it supports including Citizens Advice Doncaster Borough, Zinthiya Trust, Bromley by Bow Centre, Riverside Advice, Money A&E, Money Matters and Navigate1.
"Since August 2022, British Gas has announced a series of customer support packages, totalling £140 million by February 2024."
Other suppliers run comparable voluntary schemes. EDF Energy has allocated an additional £40 million to support customers in financial difficulty during the energy crisis, covering reduced standing charges for vulnerable customers, an enhanced Customer Support Fund for debt relief and energy-efficient appliances, and home insulation projects1. UK Power Networks runs a community scheme called Power Partners, investing approximately £300,000 a year in grants of up to £20,000 to charities tackling fuel poverty1. Energy UK's Vulnerability Commitment has 13 supplier signatories covering over 95% of the domestic retail market, with independent annual assessments1.
The Trust's figures cover announced packages, not spending by individual household, and the piece does not break the £140 million down by measure, year or recipient. It also does not state how many households received support or what the average award was; those details have not been reported1.
Why it matters for households
Support of this kind sits alongside, rather than inside, the regulated market. The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is a levy on bills that funds energy efficiency improvements for vulnerable consumers, and the Trust notes that levies including those for renewable energy support have risen over time and feed directly into the cost of energy1. It argues that further levies should not be added to unit costs and that alternatives such as general taxation should be explored, a position it puts as a comment on policy rather than a statement of fact1.
For a household, the practical distinction is between help that arrives through the bill (ECO and other levies, paid by all consumers) and discretionary help that arrives through a supplier or a charity (grants, debt relief, standing charge reductions). The second category depends on supplier profitability, which the Trust says the price cap can constrain by limiting revenue available for customer support1. That makes voluntary schemes less predictable than statutory ones, and it means eligibility, amounts and availability vary by supplier and are not set out in the Trust's piece.
What happens next
In December 2024, Ofgem launched consultations on several aspects of the energy sector, including one on the energy price cap's operating cost and debt allowances, which looks at the costs suppliers can recover through the cap and at managing energy debt1. The Trust says it welcomes the consultations and that their success depends on implementation and cross-sector collaboration1. No outcome or timetable for those consultations is given in the piece1.
Households wanting the detail of British Gas's own tariffs and service can find it in the supplier profile, and the wider picture across suppliers is covered in the hub.
Sources1 cited
- Fuel Poverty and Energy: Navigating the Path Forward - British Gas Energy Trust, britishgasenergytrust.org.uk