Energy support schemes come and go, get renamed, and get announced twice. This page tracks what's confirmed for winter 2026/27, who gets it, and what — if anything — you need to do. No speculation, no expired schemes.
The big one. From October 2026, around six million households get £150 off their electricity bill, applied automatically over the winter and paid by 31 March 2027.
Who qualifies: households where the bill payer receives a qualifying means-tested benefit (Pension Credit qualifies automatically; Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and others qualify under the expanded rules). The old "high cost to heat" test was scrapped, which is why 2.7 million more households now qualify than two years ago.
The one thing to check now: the discount goes to the person named on the electricity account. If you've moved house, switched supplier, or the benefit claimant isn't the account holder, fix the name on the account before the autumn eligibility snapshot. It's the single most common reason people miss the payment. If you're eligible you'll get a letter in autumn 2026; if the government needs more information, the letter says so.
Quieter but universal: from April 2026 the government moved most Renewables Obligation costs to the Exchequer and took ECO scheme costs off bills entirely. Net effect — roughly £150 a year off the average household bill, baked into the rates rather than arriving as a payment. You don't need to do anything; you're already getting it.
Ofgem publishes the October–December cap by 26 August 2026. The current cap (July–September) is £1,862 a year for a typical dual-fuel home on the like-for-like benchmark — 26.11p/kWh electricity, 7.33p/kWh gas on average for direct debit.
Ofgem is also consulting on adding the government's new Bill Discount Scheme into the cap from October, so expect the announcement to include a support element alongside the headline rates. We'll update this page the day it lands.
Every scheme above is worth having. None of them beats being on the right tariff. A household that can shift usage typically saves £200–£400 a year on a smart tariff versus the cap — more than the Warm Home Discount, every year, without qualifying for anything. Our smart tariffs guide covers which suits which household, and the 12 changes that actually work ranks everything else by impact.
Octopus has the widest smart-tariff range in the UK and no exit fees on variable tariffs. Switch through our referral link and you get £50 credit — we get £50 too, which is how this site is funded.
Switch to Octopus — Get £50 →Sources: GOV.UK, Ofgem, Citizens Advice. Figures verified August 2026. Eligibility rules are set by government and can change — check GOV.UK for your circumstances.