Extra help for business customers – our update

The government have created various rebate schemes to support businesses across the UK with the cost of energy bills.

Here's where you'll find the latest information on these and other helpful updates.

Update on the Energy Bill Discount Scheme

The EBDS subsidised energy consumed from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. As well as the baseline support, the EBDS also targeted additional help at certain eligible sectors - The Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) discount which provided a higher level of support to eligible businesses and organisations and The Heat Network (HN) discount which provided a higher level of support to heat networks with domestic end consumers.

The last date for any new or newly eligible ETII businesses to apply was 21 October 2024.

Government letter

How to find the right info

We've pulled all the important info into one place. So how do you know what content to look at.

If your energy account number starts with an 'A', you're classified as a small business customer, so click on any of the small business info buttons
If your energy account number starts with anything else, you're classified as an EDF Business Solutions (EBS) customer so click on any of the EBS info buttons

Government rebate schemes for businesses

Energy Bill Discount Scheme / Energy Bill Relief Scheme

The UK government’s Energy Bills Relief Scheme (EBRS) and Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) were crucial in supporting small businesses during the energy crisis.

These schemes have now finished, here's everything you need to know.

Small business info EBS info

Alternative Fuel Payments

The AFP was a one-off payment of £150 for business customers across Great Britain who use alternative fuels such as biomass, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or heating oil to heat their business premises
More funding was available for customers who are high users of heating oil
View how payments were made

Small business info EBS info

What does the Energy Bills Discount Scheme mean for our small business customers?

We were rolling out the Energy Bills Discount Scheme, which discounted small business customer's prices. If you were one of our customers whose tariff deal means you're eligible for the discount, you would've seen it on your bills from 1 April 2023. The discount depended on when you signed your contract and your then current unit rates. We've created a simple table to show you how the discounts worked;

Fixed

Customers on fixed contracts agreed before 1 December 2021

If you signed your fixed contract before 1 December 2021, the recent wholesale price rises would not have affected you. You would, therefore, not be eligible for the scheme.

Fixed

Customers on fixed contracts agreed on or after 1 December 2021

The discount was applied automatically between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Variable priced contracts

Customers on a variable tariff (Deemed, Freedom and Extended Supply)

The discount was applied automatically between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Due to the then energy market conditions, you may have benefited from moving to a fixed tariff.

A couple of key points;

The EBDS total discount varied depending on the amount of energy you used during that period
The supported price included the green levies discount; this was not discounted in addition
The discount was vary dependent on your then current unit rate vs the threshold defined by the government
The government had decided the eligibility criteria for this scheme. They're using wholesale gas and electricity prices to set this discount. The easiest way to see what your small business discounts were is to use our online calculator, which we've created
For customers who signed up for a fixed contract, your contract sign date was the date used to determine your fixed price unit rate vs the threshold defined by the government. You can find this info in your welcome pack that was sent to you when you signed up
For customers who signed up to our Easyfix tariff, your fixed price date will be the date your renewal letter was originally sent

How do I know which tariff I'm on?

The table below explains how the tariff name displays on your bill.

EBDS classification	Tariff name	Product name displayed on your bill
Variable	Freedom	Elec - On your bill: Freedom for business Gas - On your bill: Freedom for business - gas
Variable	Deemed	Elec - On your bill: Deemed Elec Product SME Gas - On your bill: Deemed Gas Product SME
Variable	Extended Supply	Elec - On your bill: Extended Supply Elec Product SME Gas - On your bill: Extended Supply Gas Product SME
Variable	Tariff Core	Elec - On your bill: Core Elec Product SME
Fixed	EasyFix	Elec - On your bill: EasyFix for Business (year) Gas - On your bill: EasyFix Gas for Business (year)
Fixed	Fixed For Business Online	Elec - On your bill: Fixed for business Online (year) Gas - On your bill: Fixed for business Online gas (year)
Fixed	Fixed for business	Elec - On your bill: Fixed for business (year) Gas - On your bill: Fixed for business gas (year)

EBRS and EBDS rates for our EDF Business Solutions (large business) and small business customers

The table below showed our EBS and small business customers the new discount rates and allows you to compare them to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme discounted rates.

Electricity table comparing old EBRS to new EBDS rates

		EBRS (1 Oct 22 - 31 Mar 23)	EBDS (1 Apr 23 - 31 Mar 24)
	Contract Type	Standard Rate	Standard Rate	*ETII Rate**
Max threshold	Fixed Contracts	No Maximum Discount	£19.61 per MWh or 1.961p per kWh	£89 per MWh or 8.9p per kWh
	Flexible Contracts	£345 per MWh or 34.5p per kWh	£19.61 per MWh or 1.961p per kWh	£89 per MWh or 8.9p per kWh
	Deemed, Extended, Tariff	£345 per MWh or 34.5p per kWh	£19.61 per MWh or 1.961p per kWh	£89 per MWh or 8.9p per kWh
Floor / Price threshold	Fixed Contracts	£211 per MWh or 21.1p per kWh	£302 per MWh or 30.20p per kWh	£185 per MWh or 18.5p per kWh
	Flexible Contracts	£211 per MWh or 21.1p per kWh	£302 per MWh or 30.20p per kWh	£185 per MWh or 18.5p per kWh
	Deemed, Extended, Tariff	£211 per MWh or 21.1p per kWh	£302 per MWh or 30.20p per kWh	£185 per MWh or 18.5p per kWh

*ETII: Energy & Trade Intensive Industries
Applicable to 70% of volume (remaining 30% of volume given 'Standard Rate' discount)

Gas table comparing old EBRS to new EBDS rates

		EBRS (1 Oct 22 - 31 Mar 23)	EBDS (1 Apr 23 - 31 Mar 24)
	Contract Type	Standard Rate	Standard Rate	*ETII Rate**
Max threshold	Fixed Contracts	No Maximum Discount	£6.97 per MWh or 0.697p per kWh	£40 per MWh or 4.0p per kWh
	Flexible Contracts	£91 per MWh or 9.1p per kWh	£6.97 per MWh or 0.697p per kWh	£40 per MWh or 4.0p per kWh
	Deemed, Extended, Tariff	£91 per MWh or 9.1p per kWh	£6.97 per MWh or 0.697p per kWh	£40 per MWh or 4.0p per kWh
Floor / Price threshold	Fixed Contracts	£75 per MWh or 7.5p per kWh	£107 per MWh or 10.7p per kWh	£99 per MWh or 9.9p per kWh
	Flexible Contracts	£75 per MWh or 7.5p per kWh	£107 per MWh or 10.7p per kWh	£99 per MWh or 9.9p per kWh
	Deemed, Extended, Tariff	£75 per MWh or 7.5p per kWh	£107 per MWh or 10.7p per kWh	£99 per MWh or 9.9p per kWh

*ETII: Energy & Trade Intensive Industries
Applicable to 70% of volume (remaining 30% of volume given 'Standard Rate' discount)

Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment

This scheme was for all businesses across Great Britain using alternative fuels, such as biomass, liquified petroleum gas (LPG) or heating oil to heat their business properties. This was a one-off payment of £150. We would've contacted you from the 20 February if the government has identified you as an eligible business for the payment.

Your one-off credit was applied to your account by 24 March 2023 and would've been included in your next invoice produced after this date.

If you were identified as one of these businesses, please see below for how you'll receive this payment.

Type of business customer	Payment method	How you’ll receive your payment
Small business customers	Budget Direct Debit	An automatic refund payment would've been made within five working days of your normal payment date. This would've been paid into your Direct Debit payments bank account. Your Direct Debit amount will not change.
Small business customers	Smart Pay As You Go	An automatic credit would've been paid onto your smart Pay As You Go meter.
Small business customers	Prepayment	A cheque would've been sent in the post from the 27 February. It would've shown on your next annual statement as a £150 bill adjustment.
Small business customers	Cash/Cheque & Direct Debit Whole Amount customers	An automatic credit to your energy account between 20 February and 28 February 2023.
EBS customers	All payment types	There’s nothing you need to do; any eligible site(s) would've received an automatically applied one-off credit of £150 to your account by 24th March. This payment would've been included in your next invoice produced after this date.

If you'd like to learn more about the scheme, please visit the government website.

Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment top-ups for high users of heating oil

For customers who;

are not connected to the gas grid
had purchased over 10,000 litres of kerosene (heating oil) over a recent 12-month period to use as a fuel on-site at the property

You were be eligible for more support. Visit the government website, where you can find out more about this additional support and apply directly. The closing date for applications was 28 April 2023.

Discounts through any of the rebates were automatically applied to our customers. So we won't be asking you for any bank details. If you had received a suspicious email or SMS, please don't click on any links; delete the email or message and report it.

Manage your small business energy account online