The Spring Statement was announced on the 23rd March, and while there are a number of changes across the piece, not much is materially changing from existing policies in terms of the retail energy market. The Spring Statement refers to already existing policy including the February 2022 suite of policies to help consumers with energy bills (which include the £200 loan to be put toward electricity bills from October 2022, and the £150 Council Tax rebate).
From initial review, aspects that are changing which could be relevant to the retail energy market include:
- VAT relief for more energy saving materials, and 0% VAT on installations
- The government will soon be setting out an energy security plan (note: this has been due to be published in the ‘coming days’ since early March)
This will include measures across hydrocarbons, nuclear and renewables to support energy resilience and security while delivering affordable energy to consumers - BEIS day-to-day expenditure is set to rise, from 2.1bn in 2020/21 to 3.3bn 2021/22, to 8.4bn 2022/23 (before decreasing again)
- To support the decarbonisation of non-domestic buildings, the government is introducing targeted business rates exemptions for eligible plant and machinery used in onsite renewable energy generation and storage, and a 100% relief for eligible low-carbon heat networks with their own rates bill. Spring Statement announces that these measures will now take effect from April 2022, a year earlier than previously planned.
For full details, please visit the government website here.
