What does the Budget 2026 mean for business energy bills?

Energy was a major theme in the Budget 2026 - but how will businesses be affected by plans?

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey announced a range of energy measures from the House of Commons on Wednesday 28th October.

However, not every scheme is designed to help business users.

We pick through the Budget 2026 to assess what it means for your business energy bills.

In this article:

• Learn about changes to UK energy costs in the Budget 2026.
• Understand how your business will be affected by changes to electricity and gas bills.
• Discover how to navigate volatile energy prices going into winter.

What has changed for energy users in the Budget 2026?

Energy was a key theme in the budget speech, but most support was targeted at domestic users, not businesses. Understanding your energy usage and taking control of your business bills remains critically important.

Gas standing charges cut for domestic users

One of the key announcements in the Budget dominated headlines in the hours leading up to the formal speech.

Standing charges on gas bills will be scrapped for household energy users. Instead, these fixed costs will be rolled into the unit rate, saving 60% of households roughly £45 annually.

For example, the standard gas unit rate under the Ofgem energy price cap is 7.97p per kWh, with a daily standing charge of 29.68p.

Under the new way of collecting charges for energy network maintenance and infrastructure, domestic users will see their unit rate raised and standing charge cut to zero.

However, this will not apply to business energy users. Business energy works differently to domestic energy and this measure is being targeted to help households.

Targeted help for domestic users

Further measures announced for domestic users include a £100 payment to households in council tax bands A to D.

This will affect 20 million households across England, with further information to be confirmed about Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

A VAT cut will be extended throughout the winter and spring to July. Again, this will not help business users.

British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) deadline approaching

One scheme that is available to business users: BICS was mentioned in the Budget after being first announced in April.

It removes certain indirect charges for qualifying firms, including the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market.

It’s aimed at manufacturers, around 10,000 of them, but not all businesses qualify.

Eligible businesses could reduce their electricity costs by up to 25%.

The application deadline for the first year of BICS is 11:59pm, 30th November 2026.

Check out our guide for more information on the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS).

What to do next?

To help your business bear the cost of energy bills, including electricity and gas, it is important to know where you stand going into winter.

You can't control energy market prices - we can't either - but you can take steps towards understanding your consumption, your current contract, and your opportunities to reduce costs.

You can control what you pay for your business gas by pulling two main levers:

• Usage: The cheapest unit of energy is the one you don’t pay for. You pay for how much you use. Use less, pay less. This doesn’t mean you should switch off your lights, shut down your office boiler and hope for the best. But it may be time to perform an energy audit to identify efficiency savings that don’t impact performance.
• Procurement: You can’t control market prices, but you can choose a deal that suits your business. Look beyond the headline rates and consider contract length, price risk, payment terms and future energy needs.

How we can help

Business energy is complex. We get it. We can support you.

Troo exists to help businesses like yours make sense of their energy needs, simplify complex information and make smart decisions that lead to real change and reduced costs.

We are not here to sell you a quick fix. We're here to understand what matters to you, offer clear advice, and take ownership of the hard parts, so energy becomes one less thing to worry about.

Book a free energy health check today for practical guidance on your business electricity, gas or water bills.