New cost of living program announced today - how the latest energy bill support will work

New help was announced today for shops, pubs, restaurants, schools and hospitals - and extra payments were unveiled for everyone who misses a £400 discount. Here's what we know

New support for energy bills was announced today by the government (

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The UK state will fund around half of the energy bills of businesses, hospitals and schools this winter as part of a huge cost-of-living bailout.

Tens of billions will be given directly to energy providers in exchange for limiting what they can charge "commercial" users.

The aid will last six months, until the end of March. After that, only the most critical industries will receive help.

These will be announced around January, but the PM has said they will include shops and pubs. And Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg hinted they could also include schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

In addition, new government assistance was announced today for hundreds of thousands of families who were expected to run out of money on their energy bills this winter.

Everything is incredibly complicated, so we explain what was announced today.

Confirmation of energy bill assistance for businesses, schools and hospitals

Two weeks ago, Liz Truss announced a new cap on household bills for two years, until March 2024. This "energy price guarantee" (EPG) means that household customers pay an average of £2,500 a year for electricity and gas (although the more you use, the more you pay).

At the time, the Prime Minister said there would also be help for businesses, charities and the public sector - which are not covered by price caps and are seeing their bills increase gigantically.

The details of this aid were revealed today. The government will effectively cap the wholesale energy price for commercial users at £211/MWh for electricity and £75/MWh for gas.