With the huge increase in fuel costs it can be hard to see where options might be to sustainably heat our churches this winter. Here is the latest information available that might help.
Energy Bill Relief Scheme
The Government has confirmed that churches are eligible for the Energy Bill Relief Scheme for non domestic customers. Suppliers will apply reductions to the bills of all eligible non-domestic customers.
The discount applied will be in pence per kilowatt hour (p/kWh). The p/kWh government support for comparable contracts will be the same across suppliers, but the absolute level of individual bills will continue to vary across different contracts and tariffs.
For fixed contracts the discount will reflect the difference between the government supported price and the relevant wholesale price for the day the contract was agreed. The government will publish the wholesale prices they will use for calculating this for each day from 1 April 2022.
For variable, deemed and all other contracts, the discount will reflect the difference between the government supported price and relevant wholesale price, but be subject to a ‘maximum discount’ (£345/MWh for electricity and £91/MWh for gas).
Churches on variable / flexible contracts will need to choose if they move to fixed contracts. This is likely to suit you if you don’t want to be exposed to price variation. You will be contacted by your supplier.
The support will be automatically applied to all eligible bills. You do not need to take action or apply to the scheme.The savings for energy used in October will be seen in your October bills, which would usually be received in November.
For full information see the gov.uk website section dedicated to the scheme.
Church of England announce fund to help churches with energy bills.
As you may be aware, The Archbishops’ Council and Church Commissioners have considered what additional support can be made available to help support parish ministry in the light of the very significant increase in energy costs. Although it is very welcome that the government’s energy bill support for non-domestic energy customers will cover voluntary sector organisations such as charities, this currently runs only to March 2023.
In the face of this challenge, the national Church has agreed to make £15m available to dioceses as a contribution towards this challenge. The primary purpose of this funding is for dioceses to make grants to Parochial Church Councils to help them meet their higher energy bills. We have been allocated a sum equal to £755 for each PCC in our diocese and all PCC Treasurers and incumbents have been emailed regarding how they can claim this.
Alongside this the Church of England has put together resources which may help.
Click here to download the practical suggestions booklet.
Access more on the Church of England Website.