Power NI is delighted to continue its support of the Northern Ireland Consumer Energy Charters alongside other key stakeholders, including the Consumer Council NI and local electricity and gas suppliers.
This collaborative project, led by the Utility Regulator, was first developed in 2022 and has relaunched for a fourth consecutive winter with strengthened measures for domestic consumers and enhanced commitments for small businesses.
In signing up to the 2025/26 Consumer Energy Charters, electricity and gas suppliers have committed to:
• Contributing to an external hardship fund to support customers struggling to pay their bills by the end of March 2026.
• Ensuring that no domestic customer will be moved onto a pre-payment meter without their consent between 1 December 2025 and 31 January 2026, unless they request it.
• Making sure new debt-repayment plans through pre-payment meters do not exceed 20%, unless the customer asks otherwise, and offering existing customers on the maximum 40% rate the opportunity to move to 20%.
• Ensuring that customers on care registers are not moved onto a pre-payment meter unless they request it, having been clearly advised of the advantages and disadvantages.
• Providing enhanced aftercare to customers moved onto a pre-payment meter to recover debt, including a check-in one month after installation to ensure the repayment plan remains manageable.
• Informing customers facing payment difficulties of tariffs most suitable for their needs and signposting them to independent support organisations such as the Consumer Council, Advice NI, and NI Direct’s “Make the Call” service for benefit entitlement checks.
• Continuing to assess customers’ ability to pay and, where appropriate, adjusting repayment rates or extending repayment timeframes.
• Providing practical energy-efficiency advice to help consumers reduce their energy bills.
Alongside these domestic commitments, the Small Business Energy Charter returns for its second year. The focus this winter is to promote early engagement and build trust between suppliers and small-business customers. Key measures include ensuring suppliers communicate with empathy, train staff on the specific challenges small businesses face, maintain up-to-date online support and FAQs, and remain open to discussing repayment options or tariff choices where contractually possible.
To find out more about Northern Ireland’s Consumer Energy Charters 2025/26, visit: www.uregni.gov.uk
The commitments from the Consumer Energy Charters will be in place from 1 November 2025 to 31 March 2026
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