The new Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) will commence on 1 April 2023 and run until 31 March 2024. 

Under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme the government will provide two levels of support for energy bills for eligible non-domestic customers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland – the universal support, which is applied automatically, and the higher level of support, which has a lower cost threshold, and provides a higher discount.  

The following sectors are included in the higher level of support

• 91.01 Library and archive activities
• 91.02 Museum activities
• 91.03 Operation of historical sites and buildings and similar visitor attractions

This higher level of support has to be applied for. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has said eligible organisations will need to apply for the higher support via a digital portal that will open on the EBDS gov.uk site on 3rd April 2023.

The government will determine eligibility based on the application. In some instances, further validation of eligibility may be required meaning that the organisation will be asked for additional information. The government will use Companies House data, eligibility for other Energy Intensive Industry (EII) compensation schemes and other data sources to make the initial determination.

Energy suppliers will not be able to apply the ETII discount rate until eligibility has been confirmed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero through this process. Further information will be updated on gov.uk shortly.