Energy price cap: Details for Northern Ireland businesses published

Details of the energy price cap for Northern Ireland businesses and other non-domestic users have been published by the government.

The scheme will fix wholesale gas and electricity prices for firms for six months from 1 October, shielding businesses from crippling costs.

Hospitals, schools and charities will also get help, the government said.

The supported price has been set at £211 per megawatt hour (MWh) for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas.

The government said this level will "ensure consistency with businesses and consumers in Great Britain".

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It will not be the same as the final per unit price paid by non-domestic customers, which will also reflect other costs such as network charges and operating costs, plus the impact of competition between suppliers.

The support will be automatically applied to all eligible bills.

'Discount applied automatically'

In a statement, Firmus Energy welcomed the government announcement and clarity around the scheme.

"It will bring much-needed support to more than 5,000 of Firmus Energy's commercial customers and help to address the high wholesale commodity cost of natural gas on the international markets," a spokesperson said.

"We will continue to work with the BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy - UK Government) and sector colleagues on the implementation of the EBRS."

They added that customers do not need to apply for the scheme.

"We are hopeful that an announcement for domestic customers is imminent and hope to be able to contact customers shortly to provide more detail on that scheme when available."