Bill discount scheme: administrator update
Summary
Ofgem has been named scheme administrator for DESNZ's bill discount scheme, which pays households living near new or significantly upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure up to £250 per year for up to 10 years. This is an administrative appointment; the scheme itself, sitting alongside Community Funds, was already established as a community benefit package for transmission hosts. No change to the scheme parameters, eligibility, or funding mechanism.
Why it matters
The discount is a side-payment to neutralise local opposition that slows transmission consenting, not a change to who bears network costs. It treats planning delay as a problem of insufficient compensation rather than absent property rights: nobody can price the externality of a pylon, so government substitutes an administered transfer. The unseen cost is the £250 per household, recovered from all consumers, to buy down a delay whose carrying cost is far larger.
Key facts
- •Ofgem appointed as scheme administrator
- •Up to £250 per eligible household per year
- •Payable for up to 10 years
- •Applies to new and significantly upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure
- •Sits alongside Community Funds in a community benefit package
- •Administrator appointment announced 2026-05-18
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
The Office for Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has been appointed as the scheme administrator for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s bill discount scheme for new electricity network transmission infrastructure. The Office for Gas and Electricity Markets ( Ofgem ) has been appointed as the scheme administrator for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s bill discount scheme for new electricity network transmission infrastructure. The scheme, which is a part of a package of community benefit measures alongside Community Funds, will ensure that those living closest to new and significantly upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure projects can directly benefit, in recognition of the wider societal benefits of cheaper, more secure and low-carbon energy that hosting this infrastructure brings. Eligible households will receive up to £250 per year, for up to 10 years. Speeding up the rollout of new transmission network infrastructure is key to integrating low-carbon generation into the grid, advancing our net-zero goals, and to avoid jeopardising our energy security, economic growth, and other critical infrastructure due to delays.