Cost of yearly electricity bills to drop for all NI households

All households in Northern Ireland are set to get a £30 per year reduction in electricity bills as part of a UK government scheme.

It will be a Northern Ireland-specific version of an initiative being implemented in the rest of the UK.

Introducing the scheme requires new legislation so it may not be operating until later this year or next year.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has criticised Stormont's Department for the Economy (DfE) for not moving more quickly on the issue.

The scheme, which will cost £81m, flows from an announcement made at the UK budget in November 2025.

It removed two environmental levies in Great Britain which should cut household electricity bills by £150 a year.

Northern Ireland operates in a different electricity market from the rest of UK with its own regulations.

The larger of the two levies being removed from bills in GB does not exist in NI, accounting for the smaller saving which will be seen in NI bills.

The money is ringfenced for electricity costs so cannot be used for other purposes.

'To ensure local people benefit'

A spokesperson for the DfE said: "Legislation is needed to make these payments to consumers in both Britain and here.

"This is currently being developed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in Westminster, and is expected to be progressed before the summer recess.

"The department is working with the Utility Regulator and NIE Networks to ensure local people benefit from this funding."

The DUP criticised the DfE after its top official was unable to provide details of the scheme when taking questions from MLAs at Stormont on Tuesday.

The typical annual household electricity bill in Northern Ireland is around £1,000.