The government's energy bill relief scheme for England, Scotland and Wales will mean that businesses will get help with their energy bills for an initial six month period from 1 October 2022. A parallel scheme is starting in Northern Ireland too.
Wholesale prices that businesses pay for their electricity will be capped and this reduction will be applied automatically to companies that have variable tariffs with their supplier. For those companies that are on fixed price contracts, the same discounts will be applied if the agreement started on or after 1 April 2022. The savings will appear on bills from November and the reduction will be backdated to October 2022.
The Government will undertake a review that will be published at the end of the year which will help identify "vulnerable" businesses that need support beyond March 2023.
It is NACO's interpretation of the scheme that holiday parks will see the benefit of the scheme. Broadly speaking all energy at holiday parks is controlled by a commercial contract, therefore the new scheme should serve to benefit holiday caravan and lodge owners.
However there are some things to consider...
Electricity Vs Gas
The gov's scheme is aimed at mains electricity and mains natural gas, so if you are using piped LPG any reductions in gas pricing won't be of help. All serviced pitches in the UK should benefit from the reduction in the commercial prices so long as any fixed contract was entered into on or after 1st April 2022. If - for instance - your park owner renewed their energy contract in January of this year, they will not see the benefit and this will mean that (in turn) you won't either. We presume that the thinking behind this is that energy prices for the commerical market weren't as unstable at the start of the year.
TAKE A READING TODAY! If you're metered the most important thing to do is get a snapshot of your reading. Take a picture if possible which will 'datestamp' the read. Secondly, we'd suggest that you wait until you are sent a bill for your electrcity usage. If you can't wait - you can always drop your park owner an email - please bear in mind that they might not know just yet as commercial contracts are often billed across longer periods. Once your park has sent a bill for the relevant period, you are entitled to an explanation of how the bill has been calculated.
The resale of electricity at holiday parks is controlled by legislation that deals with ‘maximum resale price’ and this is set by Ofgem. The long and short of the legislation is to note that resellers (in this instance your park owner) can’t resell metered electricity at more than they pay for it. The other obligation is that the reseller must explain, when asked, how they have arrived at the cost of the unit price.
If you want more assistance or advice, our expert team at NACO can help! Full NACO members can get bepoke support and guidance so get in touch with us today if you would like to know more about any of the subjects we’ve covered in this guide. Or, for any other questions, we’re standing by to speak to you.
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Published on 04 October 2022 By Dan Ellacott
