British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
BICS Eligibility Checker: Electricity Cost Relief for UK Manufacturers
BICS could lower your manufacturing site’s electricity bills by removing covered policy charges. See a worked example in pounds, then check your company against the eligibility rules.
If you manufacture products, this is worth checking before the deadline passes.
BICS offers eligible manufacturers relief from certain electricity policy costs. You don’t need to assume this is only for the biggest factories — but your sector, products and site must meet the requirements.
Registration is required.
England, Scotland or Wales.
Both relevant codes must qualify.
Grid use and supply arrangements matter.
Government estimates relief of up to 4p per kWh.
That is up to £40 for every 1,000 kWh of qualifying electricity. It is the government’s published estimate, not a rate you need to guess.
BICS lowers eligible manufacturers’ electricity costs by removing covered policy charges. The government describes the benefit as up to £40 per megawatt-hour — equivalent to up to 4p per kWh.
Read the government’s published estimate →
At the government’s upper estimate, a site using 700,000 kWh a year, with all that electricity receiving full relief, gives this full-year illustration:
700,000 kWh × £0.04 = £28,000 a year.
This shows the scale of the potential benefit. It is not a confirmed saving for your business, a guaranteed 4p rate, or a first-year payout.
Full-year illustration using the government’s upper estimate and full relief.
On the same assumptions.
On the same assumptions.
Actual relief depends on the exemption approved for your site, in-scope electricity use and the covered charges applied by your supplier. Partial relief means a smaller benefit.
These are annualised illustrations, before VAT and any support fee. RO and FiT relief is scheduled from April 2027 and Capacity Market relief from October 2027, so do not treat these amounts as first-year savings. No separate government payment is included.
What does BICS actually change?
The scheme reduces specific policy costs on qualifying electricity. Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariff exemptions are scheduled from April 2027, with Capacity Market relief following in October 2027.
This is not a guaranteed percentage saving on your whole bill. The relief depends on your qualifying electricity and circumstances.
Establish whether your business qualifies before making assumptions about the benefit. The guidance remains subject to the relevant legislation coming into force.
Start with what you make and where you make it.
Companies House registration and an eligible manufacturing sector are required. The relevant sector classification is known as a SIC code.
The goods you manufacture must also qualify under the product classifications, known as HS codes. A sector match alone is not enough.
The minimum is 33 MWh — 33,000 kWh — of annual grid electricity at each manufacturing site. Shared meters or private networks require closer review.
Could this apply to your business?
Start with your company number. We’ll retrieve the company record and check the registered activities, then ask about your manufacturing site, products and electricity use. Your result comes before any contact request.
Get the essentials together before you apply.
Check your company registration, relevant codes and what is manufactured at each site.
Prepare six consecutive months of recent bills and the MPAN for each site. Explain any shared supply arrangements.
The guidance says submitted applications cannot be amended. Check the evidence and authority to apply before sending it.
Plain-English answers.
Is this a refund on old energy bills?
This article concerns BICS application support and electricity cost relief. It should not be presented as a general historic overcharging claim.
Can someone apply on our behalf?
The guidance permits authorised representatives. The required business authorisation must be completed, and the business remains responsible for its application.
Does the checker confirm we qualify?
The checker matches your answers against published criteria and the official code lists. It explains where you meet the rules and what needs checking. Government confirms eligibility after assessing your application and evidence.
We’ve brought your details through.
Check the summary, then add your contact details so we can discuss the next step.
More than relief.
Let’s look at the rest of your bill.
Whether or not you qualify for BICS, we can help check your electricity charges and compare options for your next energy contract. You don’t need to complete the checker to speak to us.
Capacity & kVA reviews
Is the capacity you pay for right for your site? We can compare it with your peak demand and future plans.
Explore kVA reviews ↗TCR & network charges
We can check your assigned charging band and investigate whether there’s a valid basis for correction or reassessment.
Ask about my TCR band ↗Your next renewal
Coming up for renewal? Compare business gas and electricity quotes, contract options and the support we can provide.
Get renewal quotes ↗With an appropriate LOA, we can request available supplier information. We’ll agree any review fee and proposed changes with you first. Savings are not guaranteed, and reducing capacity does not automatically lower your TCR band.
Not sure where to start? Let’s look at it together.
We can help gather your BICS evidence and explain what you need to apply. With an appropriately scoped letter of authority (LOA), we can request available bills and electricity information from your supplier. You provide the production and site activity evidence, then submit through the official government service. We’ll agree the support and any fee before starting.
