The Energy Prices Act 2022 (Extension of Time Limit) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 extend the Secretary of State’s existing time-limited powers by a further six months. The operative change is simple: the deadline in paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 6 no longer falls on 25 October 2026 and instead falls on 25 April 2027, with the regulations taking effect on 24 October 2026. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) The instrument extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. On its face, it is a narrow statutory change rather than a new support package: it amends the lifespan of a power already on the statute book. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)
The underlying power sits in section 13 of the Energy Prices Act 2022, which allows the Secretary of State to provide support for meeting energy costs and related purposes. The Act received Royal Assent on 25 October 2022, and the explanatory material to the Act says Schedule 6 sets the expiry timetable for using that power. (legislation.gov.uk) That timetable has now been moved twice in 2026. The first extension, S.I. 2026/452, shifted the end date from 25 April 2026 to 25 October 2026. This second instrument uses the same Schedule 6 power, which allows extensions only in increments of up to six months, to push the date on to 25 April 2027. (legislation.gov.uk)
DESNZ’s wider policy context matters more than the drafting change itself. Official guidance published on 18 March 2026 says suppliers were required to apply domestic tariff reductions from 1 April 2026 as part of the RO to Exchequer scheme and the closure of the ECO and GBIS schemes. Budget 2025 described that package as taking around £150 on average off household energy bills across Great Britain from April 2026. (gov.uk) Supplier guidance states that the discount is built around government funding 75 per cent of domestic Renewables Obligation costs, with domestic electricity suppliers required to reflect that reduction in tariffs. In practical terms, the present SI preserves the legal basis for an existing funding route rather than launching a new household support measure. (gov.uk)
What the regulations do not do is equally clear. They do not alter how the Renewables Obligation itself works or change supplier compliance routes. The department’s memorandum says suppliers still meet their RO obligations in the usual way, while the associated tariff reductions are handled through grant funding, price-cap treatment and ministerial direction. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) There is also no expansion of scope within this SI. The GOV.UK guidance applies to England, Scotland and Wales, while the memorandum says ministers are still working with the Northern Ireland Executive on a comparable offer rather than describing Northern Ireland as already inside the same operational scheme. (gov.uk)
The immediate practical effect is continuity through winter 2026-27. DESNZ says that, without this extension, the section 13 power would cease to be exercisable from 25 October 2026, which would prevent further payments under the current RO to Exchequer arrangement after that point. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk) The memorandum also indicates that this is still a holding measure rather than an end state. It says further extension instruments will be needed until new or amended primary powers are in force, meaning the Government has preserved short-term legal cover but not yet replaced the temporary mechanism with a permanent legislative basis. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)
In procedural terms, this was not a unilateral departmental switch. The draft instrument was laid before both Houses on 8 June 2026, and the text states that it was approved by resolution of each House before it could be made and brought into force. The House of Lords record shows the approval motion agreed on 20 July 2026. (statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk) DESNZ says no formal consultation was undertaken because the SI extends a deadline rather than changing the external policy offer. It also says no full impact assessment was prepared for the instrument itself, on the basis that the SI changes a time limit rather than creating a significant direct effect on the private, voluntary or public sectors. (lordsbusiness.parliament.uk)