The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published a consultation on 8 December 2025 proposing a change to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) Order, to specify which government grants cannot fund the scheme1. The consultation ran from 10am on 8 December 2025 to 11:59pm on 5 January 2026, and applies to England, Scotland and Wales1.
Under the ECO4 scheme, obligated energy suppliers have spent more than was anticipated in the impact assessment, and the government plans to pay the suppliers through Exchequer funding to protect against a bill increase1. The ECO4 legislation currently states that measures cannot qualify against an energy supplier's obligation if they are grant-funded1. The consultation proposed amending the legislation to specify the government grants from which money is not to be received, which would allow grants from public funds to be made by the government specifically for the purposes of funding ECO4 measures, rather than other named schemes1.
The government response sets out the final decision on the consultation1. The Order will be amended to specify the government grants from which ECO4 measures cannot receive money1. The department received 128 responses from a variety of stakeholders, including energy suppliers, installers, trade bodies, local authorities and consumer stakeholders, and the feedback is summarised in the government response1.
"The Order will be amended to specify the government grants from which ECO4 measures cannot receive money."
The consultation was open to all but of particular relevance to energy suppliers, energy efficiency and heating measure installers, local authorities, consumer groups and academic groups1. The interaction between ECO4 and other public funding sits alongside the wider question of whether ECO4 measures can be funded with other government grants.
Why it matters for households
ECO4 is funded through energy supplier obligations, and the cost of meeting those obligations is recovered through household bills. The consultation states that suppliers have spent more than was anticipated in the impact assessment, and that government plans to pay suppliers through Exchequer funding to protect against a bill increase1. The proposed amendment would allow public grant funding to be directed specifically at ECO4 measures, rather than being ruled out because a measure is grant-funded1. For a household, the practical effect is on how the scheme is paid for and which funding streams can sit alongside it, not on the eligibility rules for individual measures, which are not set out in this consultation1. The government response confirms the Order will be amended to name the grants from which ECO4 measures cannot receive money1.
What happens next
The consultation has concluded and the government response has been published1. The Order will be amended to specify the government grants from which ECO4 measures cannot receive money1. The page was first published on 8 December 2025 and last updated on 9 February 2026, when the government response was published1. No commencement date for the amended Order is given in the published material1. The wider process by which such rules are proposed, decided and changed is set out in energy consultations.