Warm Home Discount (WHD)
Suppliers with over 1,000 domestic customers are obligated to participate in Warm Home Discount scheme.
Scheme timelines
Scheme year 16 will run from 1 April 2026 till 31 March 2027 in England and Wales.
For Scotland we anticipate SY16 will run from 7 May 2026 till 31 March 2027.
Scheme years 17,18,19 and 20 will run from 1 April of each year until the following 31 March.
Supplier obligations
Each domestic energy supplier is required to notify us of the number of domestic customers it has as of the 31 December preceding the start of a scheme year. Ofgem will contact suppliers requesting this information from January to February for each scheme year.
Ofgem uses that information to determine who is obligated and the size of their non-core obligations.
If you are unsure or a supplier new to Warm Home Discount, we are happy to meet to talk the process through, please contact us on the whd@ofgem.gov.uk.
How to be a voluntary supplier for Warm Home Discount
Applications to participate in Warm Home Discount as a voluntary supplier should be made as part of the customer data notification process. We will contact all suppliers from January to February to request domestic customer data and will also ask if they wish to be a voluntary supplier.
If you are interested in becoming a voluntary supplier for Warm Home Discount, please refer to our Warm Home Discount England and Wales guidance or our Warm Home Discount Scotland guidance which outlines how we administer the scheme and how we expect participating suppliers to comply with scheme requirements.
Voluntary suppliers will only have an obligation under the Core Groups and must comply with all aspects of the Core Groups for the relevant scheme year. For any questions and to express an interest in becoming a voluntary supplier for Warm Home Discount, please email WHD@ofgem.gov.uk.
Setting up an Industry Initiative
If you are an obligated supplier under Warm Home Discount, you can meet your non-core spending obligation through Industry Initiatives.
These are activities which help fuel poor customers in ways other than providing energy bill rebates. They can often be delivered in partnership with other organisations, using funding from energy suppliers. They can last over the course of a scheme year or extend across multiple years.
An Industry Initiative must be an activity permitted under by the Warm Home Discount scheme England and Wales 2026 Regulations or the Warm Home Discount Scotland 2026 Regulations.
Examples of Industry Initiatives include:
- providing energy advice
- paying organisations to refer customers who are in fuel poverty or in a fuel poverty risk group and are, or may be, eligible to receive assistance through the WHD or for any other assistance from the supplier
- providing benefit entitlement checks and/or assistance in claiming benefits
- providing energy efficiency measures, thermal efficiency measures, energy efficient appliances or micro generation
- funding training for people to provide energy advice
- providing assistance with energy debts, as part of a package of measures aimed at giving customers long-term relief from fuel poverty
- provision of rebates to eligible occupants of mobile homes
- providing energy advice or energy efficiency measures to customers in off-gas grid homes, living in households with a person who has a significant health problem or disability, or living in communities where residents are wholly or mainly in fuel poverty
See our Warm Home Discount England and Wales guidance or our Warm Home Discount Scotland guidance for further information on Industry Initiatives.
Gain approval for specific Industry Initiatives
Please contact WHD@ofgem.gov.uk for a copy of the notification template used by energy suppliers to gain approval for specific Industry Initiatives.
Information for suppliers on the price caps that apply to Warm Home Discount customers on standard variable and default tariffs, can be found on our Energy price caps industry page.
You can read more about our administration of the England and Wales WHD scheme in our guidance: WHD Guidance for England and Wales, and on our Scotland WHD in our WHD Scotland Guidance. For further information on our guidance or administration of the Warm Home Discount scheme please contact whd@ofgem.gov.uk.