Policy costs are a growing share of every business electricity bill. BICS removes some of them for eligible manufacturers, but only for those who apply in time, and only if the saving actually reaches the bill.
What BICS is
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme is a government scheme to lower electricity costs for manufacturers in eligible sectors. Successful applicants are exempted from the indirect costs of three electricity policy schemes: the Renewables Obligation, Feed in Tariffs and the Capacity Market.
Based on published guidance, relief from the Renewables Obligation and Feed in Tariff costs is expected from April 2027, with Capacity Market relief following from October 2027.
Who may qualify
A business must meet all four of these criteria:
- Be registered at Companies House.
- Operate in an eligible sector, identified by SIC code.
- Manufacture eligible products in Great Britain, identified by HS6 product code.
- Use at least 33 MWh of grid supplied electricity a year at the manufacturing site.
The applicant must be the company that actually manufactures at the site. A holding company, for example, will not pass on its own, even where the group owns the factory.
The dates that matter
Applications for year one are open now and close on 30 November 2026. Decisions are expected in the new year. The window is short, so it is worth gathering the evidence now: your SIC codes, the HS6 codes for what each site makes, and twelve months of electricity consumption for each site.
The catch most people miss
The exemption flows through your electricity supplier. If your supply contract fixes the policy costs for its full term, the saving may not reach your bill without a change to the contract. Qualifying is only half the job; checking your contract is the other half.
It is also worth checking your SIC codes at Companies House describe what you genuinely do. Codes that are out of date or too general can fail an otherwise eligible business at the first question.
Could your site qualify?
We screen your eligibility against the published codes and thresholds, and check whether your supply contract will pass the saving through. No obligation.
Book an eligibility checkHow Energy Planner helps
We screen each manufacturing site against the eligible SIC and HS6 codes and the consumption threshold, review your supply contracts to see whether the exemption will reach you, and once relief begins, check your bills to confirm it has been applied.
You can also run an initial check yourself using the government eligibility checker. It gives an indication only, so it is worth confirming the detail before you apply.
This page summarises published government guidance as at September 2026 and is general information, not advice on your specific circumstances. Eligibility decisions rest with the scheme administrator and details may change, so it is worth confirming directly on GOV.UK before applying.