Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that residents of a property that uses combined domestic and commercial energy supplies under a business tariff will receive energy bill support for the domestic element of their energy use.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Where a commercial contract is used to provide energy in a building that is also used for residential use, support under the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) applies to all energy use in the property. EBRS provides a discount on the wholesale portion of the unit price for gas and electricity to ensure that eligible businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. This support under the EBRS is comparable to the wholesale element of the Energy Price Guarantee for households.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the (a) mechanism and (b) date by which those in homes off the gas grid will be able to access the support announced by the Chancellor.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) will be delivered via electricity bills, under a similar delivery model to the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Eligible households will receive payment this winter. Further details on the timing and delivery of these payments will be announced in due course.
Households that are eligible for the payment, but do not receive it directly, because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier for example, will receive the £200 via the AFP Alternative Fund which will be provided by a designated body. The Government will confirm details of the AFP Alternative Fund shortly.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure off-grid homes are protected by the energy price cap.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Households not on standard gas or electricity contracts, such as those off-grid, will receive equivalent support to that provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme, and the Energy Price Guarantee. The Government is working at pace to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support. As part of this, for households who do not use gas for domestic heating, the Government has committed to provide an additional payment of £100 to compensate for the rising costs of other fuels such as heating oil.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support off-grid (a) homeowners and (b) businesses with rising energy bills.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment will provide £100 to support households, who do not use mains gas for heating, with the rising price of fuel this winter in addition to a number of other government support schemes.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. Eligible non-domestic customers do not need to take action or apply to the scheme – support will automatically be applied to bills.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help (a) off-grid homeowners and (b) businesses access the support with energy bills.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Alternative Fuel Payment will provide £100 to support households, who do not use mains gas for heating, with the rising price of fuel this winter in addition to a number of other government support schemes.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. Eligible non-domestic customers do not need to take action or apply to the scheme – support will automatically be applied to bills.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he will take to assess levels of local consent for fracking.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government expects industry to work closely with local communities in order to build support for new developments.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help support small and medium sized businesses with the increase in the cost of energy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government announced a new six-month scheme – the Energy Price Guarantee for Businesses (EPGB) – to protect all businesses and other non-domestic energy users from soaring energy costs. It will offer comparable support to that being provided for consumers and more details will follow shortly. After this initial six-month scheme, the Government will provide focused support for vulnerable sectors, targeted to make sure those most in need get support.
The Government is also providing a 50% business rates relief for businesses across the UK and reducing employer national insurance.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the resilience of the rural electricity network to severe weather events in light of the planned replacement of traditional boilers with heat pumps for off-grid properties.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to maintaining high levels of energy resilience as the sector decarbonises. Great Britain has one of the most robust energy systems in the world, however, risks from climate-related hazards will become more common as dependence on electricity grows and the variability of its weather increases.
The Government is working with the industry to continually improve and maintain the resilience of old and new energy infrastructure, networks and assets, to reduce vulnerabilities, and ensure an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents- taking into account future system changes and climate change risks
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the resilience of the rural electricity network during severe weather events.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to maintaining high levels of energy resilience as the sector decarbonises. Great Britain has one of the most robust energy systems in the world, however, risks from climate-related hazards will become more common as dependence on electricity grows and the variability of its weather increases.
The Government is working with the industry to continually improve and maintain the resilience of old and new energy infrastructure, networks and assets, to reduce vulnerabilities, and ensure an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents- taking into account future system changes and climate change risks
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the ability of the rural electricity network to support the planned replacement of traditional boilers with heat pumps for off-grid properties.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government and Ofgem jointly published an Electricity Networks Strategic Framework on 4 August 2022, which sets out a vision for the transformation of the electricity network as decarbonise and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Network regulation, including ensuring that the rural electricity network has sufficient capacity to meet demand is a matter for Ofgem. The Government engages regularly with Ofgem and electricity network operators to discuss their plans to support connections of low carbon technologies, including heat pumps for off-grid properties.