Government Scheme

The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) commenced on 1 April and will run until 31 March 2024. Under the scheme, the Government will provide a baseline discount to support energy bills for eligible non-domestic customers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As with the original Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), reductions to the bills of all eligible non-domestic customers will be applied automatically.

Further information as to how the EBDS operates can be found following links below, along with the published discount tables.  

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bills-discount-scheme 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bill-discount-scheme-discounts-for-fixed-default-and-variable-contracts 
Eligibility for the EBDS 

As with the original scheme, the EBDS will be available to everyone on a non-domestic contract including.

Businesses 

Voluntary sector organisations, such as charities 
public sector organisations such as schools, hospitals, and care homes 
Any exceptions to the scheme will be as per the old scheme 
who are: 

on existing fixed price contracts that were agreed on or after 1 December 2021 
signing new fixed price contracts  on deemed / out of contract or standard variable tariffs  on flexible purchase or similar contracts 
on variable ‘Day Ahead Index’ (DAI) tariffs (Northern Ireland scheme only)

However, under the new scheme, customers will be split into three groups as outlined below: 

Standard 
Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) 
Qualifying Heat Supplies (QHS)
EBDS support levels 

The baseline support under the EBDS is much lower as under the EBRS (due to the current wholesale price). Please refer to the discount tables for each customer group at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bill-discount-scheme-discounts-for-fixed-default-and-variable-contracts   

Applications for higher level Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) or Qualifying Heat Network (QHS) support for customers eligible on 26 April 2023 closed on 25 July 2023. If you became eligible for the higher level of support after 26 April 2023, you must apply within 90 days from becoming eligible.

For eligibility queries contact the EBDS customer support team.

Email: support@ebds.beis.gov.uk
Telephone: 030 0400 5251
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm