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READ MOREBusinesses berate ‘scattergun’ approach to UK government energy support
Groups representing more than 100,000 UK firms have accused ministers of taking a “scattergun” approach to supporting businesses with their gas and electricity costs, amid fears many will be forced to close this year by unaffordable bills.
Earlier this month, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, confirmed that the scheme designed to soften the blow of soaring monthly payments for energy would become significantly less generous from April.
In a letter to business secretary, Grant Shapps, industry bodies including the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), the Federation of Small Businesses, and UK Hospitality urged the government to rethink its approach to let firms renegotiate contracts agreed when wholesale gas prices peaked last summer.
It has been estimated that firms that signed fixed price energy contracts between August and October last year will receive a discount of between 25% and 55% on electricity under the existing scheme running until April. After that, most businesses will receive discounts of only 0.7% off their gas and 2% off their electricity bills.
In the letter, seen by the Guardian, the industry bodies say: “We are urging [the business department] and Ofgem to encourage energy suppliers to allow the most vulnerable businesses to renegotiate or ‘blend and extend’ their energy contracts to reflect significantly lower wholesale prices now available.”
Read more at The Guardian
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