More than 10,000 British businesses will see their electricity bills cut by a quarter from April 2027 under the Labour government’s plans to boost the UK’s competitiveness and take the country “off the fossil fuel rollercoaster.”
Prime minister Keir Starmer has pledged to ease pressure on businesses and households with a raft of new measures. Announcing the measures, the PM said:
“Our focus is simple: easing pressure on household budgets now, while building a homegrown energy system that protects families from global instability in the years ahead. When global gas prices spike, people here shouldn’t be picking up the tab.”
The war in the Middle East and disruptions to global shipping have had a direct impact on energy prices, with the cost of crude oil nearly doubling on this time last year and natural gas prices experiencing huge volatility. In response, the government is expanding its British Industrial Competitiveness Strategy, first announced in 2025, to ensure that UK businesses are insulated from global turmoil. An extra 3,000 businesses will now benefit from the measures, which break the link between gas and electricity prices.
Families will also be better protected from price instability under plans to introduce long-term fixed price contracts, and a raised levy to tax the energy companies’ excess profits during price spikes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has criticised the energy companies that reap profits from gas price shocks while “hardworking British families and businesses… bear the brunt.”
In the longer term, Labour has pledged to reduce the UK’s consumption of fossil fuels and increase its domestically-generated sustainable energy, a move that will both bring down the cost of electricity and galvanise national security.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “the lesson for our country is clear: The era of fossil fuel security is over, and the era of clean energy security must come of age.”
The government is also investing £1.2 billion to upgrade 100,000 social homes under the Warm Homes Plan, and supporting the installation of solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps in homes and public buildings.
Labour Home website and podcast editor +447876661935
-- Labour Home - People. Progress. Power www.labourhome.co.uk | e: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
