# Cut manufacturers’ electricity bills by up to 25% > “When it comes to energy costs, our British industrial competitiveness scheme will save more than 10,000 manufacturers up to 25% of their electricity bills.” > > — Blair McDougall, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Reindustrialisation), Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Labour Party; Commons statement, 9 September 2026 - **Status:** In plan - **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered - **Policy area:** [Transport & economy](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/transport-and-economy) - **Speaker:** [Blair McDougall](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/blair-mcdougall), Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Reindustrialisation), Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - **Party:** [Labour Party](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/labour) - **Made on:** 9 September 2026 - **Where:** Commons statement - **Cost a year:** Costs £0.54bn to £0.66bn a year (central £0.6bn by Department for Business and Trade, official) - **Who it affects:** Manufacturers in Great Britain in eligible frontier and foundational sectors, such as automotive, aerospace and chemicals, that meet the electricity-use threshold (government estimate: over 10,000 businesses). They stop paying the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market. The Northern Ireland Executive is to get funding for an equivalent programme, subject to a business case. - **When:** Applications 1 October to 30 November 2026; exemptions on bills from April 2027 (Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs) and October 2027 (Capacity Market); a one-off payment in 2027 covers the support firms would have received had the scheme run from April 2026 - **Paid for by:** A combination of changes within the energy system (such as those recently made to inflation indexation of RO/FITs), removal of Carbon Price Support from April 2028 and Exchequer funding, so that domestic and non-domestic electricity consumers do not see an increase in their bills; the one-off 2027 payment is funded by the Exchequer - **Quote source:** https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-09-09/debates/CAB0EF73-A8DD-4708-AF57-2221AD011A5A/JaguarLandRoverRedundancies (checked word for word on 7 October 2026; Open Parliament Licence v3.0) - **Last updated:** 7 October 2026 - **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-bics-electricity-2026 ## Where it stands The scheme is in the government's plans (Modern Industrial Strategy, June 2025; consultation responses of 16 April and July 2026), and applications opened on 1 October 2026 and close on 30 November 2026. Exemptions on bills start in April 2027. Draft regulations amending the Renewables Obligation and Capacity Market rules were laid on 7 September 2026 and need approval by both Houses; none had been made by 7 October 2026. The Exchequer funding is due to be scored at Budget 2026, so the card stays at In plan. ## Timeline - 9 September 2026, Promised: Minister for Reindustrialisation Blair McDougall tells the Commons the scheme will save more than 10,000 manufacturers up to 25% of their electricity bills - 1 October 2026, In plan: Applications open until 30 November 2026; the government says eligible firms receive support from April 2027 ([evidence](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/applications-open-for-scheme-to-slash-electricity-bills-for-over-10000-manufacturers)) ## About the cost Year shown: a typical year of the scheme from April 2027; the government gives an average yearly figure, not one for a named year. Its estimate is "around £600 million on average p.a." (government response, 16 April 2026); its press release the same day says "up to £600 million per year from April 2027". Central figure only, subject to final scheme design and consumption forecasts. Neither source says whether this includes the one-off additional payment in 2027, worth around a year's relief, for businesses that apply in the first window. The final impact assessment (7 September 2026), published with the draft regulations, puts the cost of BICS support at £3.8bn in present value over 2027-28 to 2034-35 (2025 prices), including the additional payment, or £3.2bn without it; that is a discounted eight-year total, not a yearly figure, so it is not used for the range. No independent costing has been published. Low–high is an editorial ±10% because the source gives a central figure only. Costing sources: - [Government response: BICS consultation on scheme eligibility and approach, 16 Apr 2026](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69dfe1fdf5069cdc548688aa/british-industrial-competitiveness-scheme-consultation-on-scheme-eligibility-approach-government-response.pdf) - [DBT and HM Treasury press release, 16 Apr 2026: Government cuts electricity bill for 10,000 manufacturers](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-cuts-electricity-bill-for-10000-manufacturers-in-boost-for-uk-competitiveness) - [BIST impact assessment: British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (final stage, 7 Sep 2026)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2026/149/pdfs/ukia_20260149_en.pdf) ## Sources - [Hansard, House of Commons, 9 Sep 2026: Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies (statement)](https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-09-09/debates/CAB0EF73-A8DD-4708-AF57-2221AD011A5A/JaguarLandRoverRedundancies) - [The UK's Modern Industrial Strategy, 23 Jun 2025 (DBT)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-strategy) - [Government response: BICS consultation on scheme eligibility and approach, 16 Apr 2026](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69dfe1fdf5069cdc548688aa/british-industrial-competitiveness-scheme-consultation-on-scheme-eligibility-approach-government-response.pdf) - [DBT and HM Treasury press release, 16 Apr 2026: Government cuts electricity bill for 10,000 manufacturers](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-cuts-electricity-bill-for-10000-manufacturers-in-boost-for-uk-competitiveness) - [BICS consultation on regulatory changes and scheme delivery: government response, Jul 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/british-industrial-competitiveness-scheme-consultation-on-regulatory-changes-and-scheme-delivery) - [BIST press release, 1 Oct 2026: Applications open for scheme to slash electricity bills for over 10,000 manufacturers](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/applications-open-for-scheme-to-slash-electricity-bills-for-over-10000-manufacturers) - [GOV.UK collection: British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/british-industrial-competitiveness-scheme) - [Draft Renewables Obligation and Electricity Capacity (Amendment) (British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme Excluded Electricity) Regulations 2026 (laid 7 Sep 2026), legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2026/9780348286762/contents) - [BIST impact assessment: British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (final stage, 7 Sep 2026)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2026/149/pdfs/ukia_20260149_en.pdf) ## Checks - Checked by AI Journalist (automated) on 7 October 2026; human editor review to come. --- Public Ledger's own writing (headlines, status notes, cost notes, summaries) is licensed under [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse it, crediting Public Ledger with a link to the card. 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