Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy has made the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy Bills Discount Scheme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026, switching off the remaining supplier discount duties created during the energy crisis. The rule was approved by the Assembly on 16 February 2026 and takes effect 21 days after being made, on Monday 9 March 2026. (aims.niassembly.gov.uk)
Under the amendments, a new “discount duties end date” is created for each supplier. From that date, which is the later of the supplier’s reconciliation run‑off date or 9 March 2026, the duties on suppliers to apply EBRS/EBDS discounts to bills generally cease. (tsoshop.co.uk)
The regulations preserve discount duties only in defined circumstances after the end date: where energy was already billed when the duty applied; where energy falls in a billing period for which the supplier has not yet issued a bill by the end date; or where unreasonable delay or other failure by the supplier meant the customer was not billed accurately or at all before that point. (tsoshop.co.uk)
The instrument also modifies provisions that limit discounts where customers increase their exposure to wholesale prices. On and after a supplier’s discount duties end date, the relevant clause is to be read as if the words “in relation to a variable price contract” were omitted, widening the restriction beyond variable tariffs. The same billing carve‑outs continue to apply. (tsoshop.co.uk)
Dispute handling is narrowed for these changes. Where a disagreement concerns a supplier determination made under the new end‑date or contract‑exposure provisions, the usual route to refer the matter to the Secretary of State under the EBRS/EBDS NI regulations does not apply and the supplier’s determination remains effective. (tsoshop.co.uk)
The amendments sit atop the original schemes. EBRS supported non‑domestic bills for usage between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023, while EBDS ran from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 in Northern Ireland. The 2026 rule is therefore a wind‑down measure to close out residual billing and reconciliation under those frameworks. (publications.parliament.uk)
For suppliers, the operational consequence is clear. From their discount duties end date, billing systems should cease auto‑applying EBRS/EBDS relief to new consumption while retaining the ability to credit or correct discounts for past periods captured by the exceptions and to complete reconciliation runs. Finance teams should keep auditable records explaining any legacy discount lines that appear after March.
For non‑domestic customers, routine discounts on new usage will stop from the relevant supplier end date. Credits may still appear on final or catch‑up invoices where usage falls into an earlier billing period or where a supplier corrects previous under‑billing, but relief is not due on energy consumed after the end date unless it fits one of the specified cases.
Customers that adopted arrangements increasing exposure to wholesale price movements should note the broadened restriction now applies irrespective of contract type after the end date. Procurement leads may wish to review any indexation or hedging clauses to confirm whether earlier‑period EBRS/EBDS relief remains payable under the preserved exceptions.
The Department for the Economy has made these changes under the Energy Prices Act 2022. The EBRS NI Regulations 2022 and the EBDS NI Regulations 2023 remain the legal scaffolding for discount calculation and recovery, which this instrument clarifies for the wind‑down phase. (statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk)