Today Jeremy Hunt spoke out on the government’s energy plan. The new chancellor has scaled back a lot on the original energy plan that was delivered by Liz Truss.
People have been criticising Liz truss’ Energy Price Guarantee for household energy prices. Many have said that it was more costly than it needed to be as she did not target help to those who needed it.
Although Liz Truss promised the Energy Price Guarantee would last for at least two years for households it has now been confirmed by Jeremy Hunt that this support will only last until April. He says that the PM agreed it would be a mistake to make such long-term spending commitments when it is unclear what will happen in the future.
Jeremy Hunt said the need for U-turns was based on global market changes. As well as this the chancellor and PM have said it would not be in the public’s best interests to expose their finances to volatile international gas prices for the next two years.
A treasury-led review will be launched in April to examine different options to support households and businesses after April 2023.
After April, Jeremy Hunt has also confirmed that any support for businesses would be based on those who are most affected by the energy crisis. Support will also better incentivise energy efficiency.
The energy support schemes Liz Truss introduced were desperately needed by household and non-domestic energy consumers. However, introducing universal long-term support was too expensive and poorly targeted.
It has been admitted by the government that the original energy plan set out by the PM needs rewriting to better target consumers.
What does this mean for your business?
The business energy relief scheme was set to end at the end of March 2023, so no real changes have been made to the support businesses are getting from the government.
However, the chancellor did give businesses some more clarity on what support after the current scheme will look like. Jeremy Hunt said support will be focused on energy efficiency measures in businesses.
This will most likely include measures to reduce your energy consumption and therefore save you money. To get ahead of the government incentives, you could introduce energy-efficient practices in your business today. See more here.
To further save money on energy your business could also consider investing in energy-efficient technology that will reduce your reliance on imported energy and protect your business from price volatility in the energy market.
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