The Warm Home Discount scheme for 2024/25 is now open, providing eligible E.ON Next customers with £150 per household towards their energy bills this winter. With continued pressures on household budgets, the move comes as E.ON calls for a new approach that would bring better and longer-term benefits to customers.

Chris Norbury, CEO of E.ON UK, said: “With the onset of the colder months, it’s essential we take action to care for our most vulnerable customers and we continue to work with the Government on industry-wide solutions. But it is also clear we need to find a better way that ensures we change energy from being a significant cause of poverty to something that is not just affordable to all, but a lever which actually helps lift people out of poverty.

“Our E.ON Next pilot scheme in Coventry demonstrates aspects of this potential new approach by addressing immediate needs by writing off debt for vulnerable customers, while simultaneously tackling long-term affordability. So as well as resetting things financially by clearing any energy debt, we're installing batteries and other energy solutions, providing energy-efficient appliances and improving insulation - measures that reduce energy consumption and costs for years to come. This combination of short-term relief and long-term solutions directly addresses the root causes of energy unaffordability.

“Imagine scaling this nationally. We could transform people's relationship with energy, addressing affordability not just once, but permanently. For suitable homes, which will be the vast majority, we could redirect existing funding sources away from short-term sticking plasters to a new subscription approach. “In our project we’re showing that by providing a free battery up front, the spend could match the £150 Warm Home Discount payment but deliver benefits and savings year after year far in excess of that amount – we’re estimating more than £250 each year. For others, where their home isn’t immediately suitable for improvements the support payments would continue alongside lighter interventions.

“The key is to combine immediate action with long-term measures to break the cycle of high energy bills, and by adding further innovations in the future such as simple energy trading for the stored battery power we can unlock financial gain for customers – something our partner Amber is already doing for its customers in Australia. In this energy world it’s not about energy unaffordability, it’s about unlocking the power of energy as a force for good.”

About the Warm Home Discount scheme

The Warm Home Discount scheme helps people who are potentially struggling to pay their energy bills during winter months. A one-off payment of £150, funded by energy suppliers, is applied as a credit onto customers’ electricity bills.

Who is eligible for support through the Warm Home Discount?

In England and Wales, there are two ‘Core Groups’ of customers who are eligible for Warm Home Discount funding:

o Core Group 1 is customers who are in receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit.

o Core Group 2 is customers on certain means tested benefits with the high heating costs1.

In Scotland, the two groups are the ‘Core Group’ and the ‘Broader Group’:

o Customers in the Core Group is customers who are in receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit.

o Customers who live in Scotland and think they’re part of the ‘Broader Group’ will need to apply2.

How will customers know if they’re eligible?

Customers in the Core Group who are eligible will be contacted by the government before January 2025, with the £150 payment applied to electricity bills before March 2025.

Customers who haven’t been contacted by the beginning of January 2025 but who think they qualify for support should visit the Government’s Warm Home Discount website. Customers in the Broader Group in Scotland need to apply directly with E.ON Next, via eonnext.com/warm-home-discount.

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