Electricity discount to be paid to NI households

All households in Northern Ireland will get a one-off £63 reduction in electricity bills from next month.

It is the local outworking of two schemes which apply in Great Britain, which has a separately regulated electricity market.

The schemes are being funded by the UK government and will be applied automatically without the need for an application.

Bank payment customers will have their bills automatically reduced while pay-as-you-go customers will receive £63 in credit when they top up their meter.

The only complication for pay-as-you-go customers is they should not buy more than £112 of credit if they want to get the discount all in one go.

That is because meters are set up to take a maximum payment of £175. Top ups over this value means the £63 payment will be split over a subsequent top up.

The Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said the money would "provide some help for families as winter kicks in and energy bills rise".

Last week applications opened for a separate means-tested scheme to provide a £100 voucher to some heating oil users. It is jointly funded by Stormont and the UK government.

The electricity scheme reflects two policies which apply in GB: a temporary cut in VAT and the removal tax of some consumer levies.

The UK government decided not to apply the VAT cut in NI as it would have required agreement with the EU which it thought would lead to delay.

It comes as energy prices continue to rise, driven by the US conflict with Iran.

Data from the NI consumer council suggests 500 litres of home heating oil currently costs around £560, more than twice the price compared to this time last year.