Struggling Scottish businesses could see their energy bills reduced by up to a half as part a multi-billion pound UK government rescue package.
Details of the Government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, delayed by the death of the Queen, will cap the amount businesses pay for gas and electricity for the next six months.
The multi-billion pound scheme is aimed at preventing thousands of firms going bust because they can’t afford soaring energy bills.
There was little detail on how the much the scheme will finally cost or how it would be funded with some estimates putting the direct government intervention at £200 billion, about the budget for the entire NHS for a year.
The scheme runs in parallel to the domestic energy cap Liz Truss announced meaning a typical household will pay no more than £2,500 a year for their energy until October, 2024.
The six month business scheme will also apply to the voluntary sector like charities and the public sector such as schools and hospitals and will be reviewed for high intensity and vulnerable businesses later.
Announcing the energy support package earlier this month, Truss said the government would “launch a new scheme for all non-domestic customers who would otherwise have been at the mercy of high prices driven by Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”.
It also said: “The majority of UK non-domestic customers are on fixed-price energy deals.”
Truss said the package of support to protect firms would apply from 1 October and would make sure businesses “are able to get through the winter”.
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