The King’s Speech on 17 July confirmed three energy Bills that will be debated in Parliament this autumn. For the 4.5 million UK households in fuel poverty, and the 18 million more watching their bills climb, the detail matters more than the rhetoric. The headline: a Great British Energy Bill, a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill, and a Bill on oil and gas licensing. Only one of them directly cuts your electricity bill. The other two affect prices at the pump and in the air, but the first is where the real household savings sit.
As reported by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, the three Bills were outlined in the King’s Speech but the fine print won’t be published until the autumn. That leaves homeowners guessing, but the direction is clear. The government wants to bring down electricity costs by decoupling them from gas prices, and that means a rapid shift to renewables and heat pumps.
What the Great British Energy Bill does for your home
The Bill creates a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, headquartered in Scotland. Its job: invest in wind, solar, and nuclear projects, and sell the power back to the grid at cost. The government claims this could cut household electricity bills by up to £300 a year by 2030. That figure assumes a typical 3-bed semi using 3,100 kWh of electricity per year and a wholesale gas price of around 60p per therm. If gas prices stay lower, the saving shrinks. But the principle is solid: removing the profit margin from generation and passing it to households.
For homeowners, the practical effect will be felt through lower standing charges and unit rates. Ofgem sets the price cap based on wholesale costs. If Great British Energy feeds cheaper power into the grid, the cap falls. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that a 10% reduction in wholesale electricity costs would save the average household about £80 a year. The Bill aims for more than that, but only if it can build enough capacity fast enough.
Who qualifies, and who doesn’t
The Bill does not include a direct payment to households. It is a wholesale market intervention. That means every home on the grid benefits, whether they have solar panels or not. But the biggest winners are households with electric heating or heat pumps, because they use more electricity. A home with a gas boiler will see a smaller percentage saving, roughly 8% off their electricity bill versus 15% off for an all-electric home. The catch is that gas boiler users pay more for heat than heat pump users, so the net effect still favours the switch.
Fuel poverty campaigners argue the Bill should include a social tariff for vulnerable households. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has called for a fixed low rate for the 4.5 million homes in fuel poverty. The government has not confirmed this, but the Bill’s committee stage, expected in early 2025, will be the battleground. Homeowners on prepayment meters or standard variable tariffs should watch this closely: a social tariff could cut their bills by £200 a year or more.
What it costs a typical 3-bed semi
For now, the costs are speculative. The government has allocated £8.3 billion over the next five years to capitalise Great British Energy. That works out to about £300 per household over five years, or £60 a year, if spread evenly. But the money comes from general taxation, not a direct levy. The Treasury will recover it through borrowing and future savings on energy costs. The net effect on household finances depends on whether the savings materialise faster than the tax burden.
But, and this is the key point for homeowners, the Bill is not the only game in town. The other two Bills will affect gas and oil prices directly. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill mandates a 10% blend of sustainable fuel in aviation by 2030, which will push up airfares but has no direct impact on home heating. The oil and gas licensing Bill will allow new North Sea drilling, which could keep domestic gas prices slightly lower than they would otherwise be, but the International Energy Agency has warned that new licences won’t affect prices until the 2030s, if at all.
What to do now
Households on standard variable tariffs can do little until the Bill becomes law, expected in late 2025. But two actions make sense now. First, check your EPC rating. Homes rated D or below will face higher costs under any scenario, because heat pumps and solar panels are less effective in draughty homes. Second, if you are planning a new boiler, wait. The government has signalled that gas boilers will be banned in new builds from 2025 and could face tighter standards in existing homes by 2027. Installing a heat pump now, with the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Grant, locks in lower running costs before any Bill savings kick in. The grant is available until March 2027, but the best installers are booked months ahead. Act by November to secure a spring installation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The government claims the Great British Energy Bill could cut household electricity bills by up to £300 a year by 2030 for a typical 3-bed semi using 3,100 kWh of electricity annually. However, the actual saving depends on wholesale gas prices, and if they stay lower, the saving will be less, the Energy Saving Trust estimates a 10% reduction in wholesale costs saves the average household about £80 a year.
No, the Bill does not include direct payments to households, it's a wholesale market intervention that lowers electricity costs for everyone on the grid by removing profit margins from generation. Fuel poverty campaigners are pushing for a social tariff for vulnerable households, but this hasn't been confirmed yet and will be debated in the Bill's committee stage in early 2025.
Yes, homes with electric heating or heat pumps will see bigger savings, roughly 15% off their electricity bill compared to 8% for gas boiler users, because they use more electricity. However, heat pump owners already pay less for heat than gas boiler users, so the net effect still favours switching to a heat pump.
The King's Speech confirmed three energy Bills: the Great British Energy Bill (which cuts electricity bills), a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill (affecting air travel prices), and an oil and gas licensing Bill (impacting fuel prices at the pump). Only the Great British Energy Bill directly reduces household electricity costs, the other two affect transport fuel prices, not home energy bills.
The Bill was announced in the King's Speech on 17 July 2024, but the fine print won't be published until autumn 2024, with the committee stage expected in early 2025. Savings won't appear until Great British Energy builds enough wind, solar, and nuclear capacity to feed cheaper power into the grid, with the government targeting cuts of up to £300 a year by 2030.
