Plans to extend discounts to cut electricity costs for thousands of businesses and bring them in line with foreign competitors are moving forward.
British Steel and Ineos are among the 500 most energy-intensive firms in the Ƶ that could save money on bills when the discount on network charge costs is raised from 60% to 90% from 2026.
The Government is launching a consultation on the changes, which it estimates could save businesses up to £420m a year.
Some of the Ƶ’s biggest industrial businesses have already had 60% discounts on network charges – the cost to access the service – since April 2024.
The new measures are expected to bring costs down by another £7 per megawatt hour, bringing them closer to prices in France and Germany.
It is part of the industrial strategy launched last month.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the Government was “wasting no time in powering ahead with our plans to tackle energy costs for great British businesses and level the playing field”.
Gareth Stace, director general of Ƶ Steel and chairman of industry body the Energy Intensive Users Group, said: “Increasing network charge compensation under the Government’s Supercharger scheme is a very welcome and much-needed step towards achieving competitive electricity prices for the Ƶ’s steel sector and other foundation industries.”
The Conservatives said the plan shows that energy bills are not coming down soon as promised by Labour.
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “This is an admission that the costs of Labour’s impossible net zero targets are so high that the Government is having to spend billions of taxpayers’ money subsidising bills to stop businesses going bust.”
