Energy price cap for Northern Ireland businesses: Retail NI CEO Glyn Roberts says news gives members 'degree of confidence'

Details of the energy price cap for Northern Ireland businesses and other non-domestic users were published by the government yesterday.

The scheme will fix wholesale gas and electricity prices for firms for six months from 1 October. It will apply to businesses, voluntary sector organisations, such as charities and public sector organisations such as schools, hospitals and leisure centres. The government will provide a discount on gas and electricity unit prices. For all non-domestic energy users in Northern Ireland the supported price has been set at £211 per megawatt hour (MWh) for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas.

The government statement said this level will ensure consistency with businesses and consumers in Great Britain. It will not be the same as the final per unit price paid by non-domestic customers, which will also reflect other costs such as network charges and operating costs, plus the impact of competition between suppliers. The support will be automatically applied to all eligible bills.

Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive of Retail NI, said: “Obviously we are going through the detail of it and trying to give our members the best advice based on what we received from the government. I think it does represent some degree of progress. There are a few more things that we want to clarify but other than that I think it is a step forward and I hope it will give our members some degree of confidence in the months ahead."

See full details of the price cap scheme here.