Nearly £40bn spent to keep energy bills down over winter

Between October 2022 and March 2023, £39.3bn was spent to subsidise energy bills – reducing households bills from a peak of almost £4,300 a year to £2,500. This was partly funded through taxing energy producers’ excess – with the government’s windfall tax on producers expected to raise almost £26bn by March 2028.  

The figures show that between October to March, almost £21bn went towards the Energy Price Guarantee, with an expected £12bn paid under the Energy Bills Support Scheme – which offered homes £400 payments towards their bills over the winter.  

Meanwhile, businesses and other organisation benefited from a £5.5bn boost under the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, while a further £933m was spent on other government energy support schemes, including alternative schemes providing support for households and businesses off-grid and those using alternative fuels.  

Energy security secretary Grant Shapps said: “Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and his reckless attempts to hold the West to ransom sent energy prices spiralling around the world. 

“We acted swiftly and decisively to protect families and businesses from the full impact of that shock – covering around half a typical energy bill over winter. This helped safeguard jobs and livelihoods, and enabled many families to heat their homes. 

“And we will not stop leading the world in standing up to Putin, helping countries around the world to move away from Russian fossil fuels – just as we have done having not used any Russian gas for the past 12 months.” 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt added: “Putin’s weaponisation of global gas prices meant our energy bills soared, which is why we stepped in with immediate relief and cut the typical household energy bill by around half last winter, driving down inflation and relieving pressure on families.”