The UK government has given further details on its support scheme to help businesses in Northern Ireland with energy bills this winter.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will see gas and electric prices for non-domestic customers cut between October 1 2022 and March 31 2023.
It is part of a wider package which will also ease the pressure on households from rising energy costs.
Read more: Cost of living: Belfast residents facing 12.5% rates rise, councillors warned
There has been uncertainty over when and how Northern Ireland would receive support due to the region having a separate energy market from Great Britain and the absence of a Stormont power-sharing administration.
The UK government has previously pledged that Northern Ireland will see the same benefit overall by backdating support.
Here is a summary of the latest information on the non-domestic scheme in Northern Ireland:
Who is eligible?
The scheme will be available to everyone on a non-domestic contract including businesses; voluntary sector organisations such as charities; and public sector organisations such as schools, hospitals and leisure centres.
It will apply to those with fixed-price contracts agreed on or after December 2021; new fixed-price contracts; variable 'day ahead' tariffs; deemed/out of contract or standard variable tariffs; or flexible purchase contracts.
There are some exclusions, such as businesses that use gas or electricity for the purpose of generating power they are selling back into the grid, such as power stations, pumped hydro or grid-level battery storage.
If you signed your fixed-rate contract before December 2021, you would not have been exposed to the recent rises in wholesale prices, so you will not be eligible for support under the scheme.
Level of support
The government will discount gas and electricity unit prices for non-domestic energy customers for six months, from October 1 2022 and March 31 2023.
This is calculated by comparing wholesale prices with a "government supported price" set at £211 per megawatt hour (MWh) for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas.
However, the final price paid by customers could be more than this rate due to factors such as network charges and the impact of competition between suppliers.
For variable, deemed and other contracts, the discount will reflect the difference between the government price and wholesale price, subject to a maximum discount. The maximum discount is £345 per MWh for electricity and £91 per MWh for gas.
For fixed contracts, the discount will reflect anticipated prices over the winter in wholesale markets in Great Britain for the day the contract was agreed.
For flexible purchase contracts, the reduction will depend on the difference between the monthly weighted average price and the government supported price.
The government said "comparable support" will be provided for those who use heating oil or alternative fuels instead of gas, with further details to be "announced shortly".
Do I need to apply?
The discount is automatic, so you do not need to do anything to avail of the scheme.
Suppliers will apply reductions to the bills of all eligible non-domestic customers. The government will compensate suppliers for the reduction in wholesale gas and electricity unit prices that they are passing onto customers.
Further technical guidance for energy suppliers will be published "in due course", the government said.
The support package only applies to fixed-rate contracts signed after December 1 2021, as it was from that point that more significant wholesale price rises have taken effect.
What happens when the scheme ends?
A review will be carried out in three months' time to inform decisions on future support after March 2023 when the scheme is due to end.
Any follow-up scheme is likely to focus on the non-domestic customers most affected by rising energy costs.
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