Business Electricity Price Increases from April 2026 Explained
By Switch365 - (2026-03-24)
Over the past few months, some businesses have started to notice changes being mentioned in relation to their electricity contracts.
In particular, there’s been more communication around increases to standing charges or adjustments to overall costs from April 2026.
Understandably, this has raised a few questions. Especially for businesses that believed their energy was fully fixed.
What’s important to know is that this isn’t being driven by suppliers and it isn’t specific to any one contract or provider. It’s part of a wider industry change affecting businesses across the UK.
What’s actually changing
From 1 April 2026, there is a significant increase in something called Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges.
These are regulated costs that fund the national electricity transmission grid, essentially the infrastructure that moves electricity around the country. They are set centrally through the regulatory framework overseen by Ofgem and managed by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
For the 2026/27 charging year, the total amount being collected through these charges has risen from around £5.1 billion to approximately £8.9 billion.
That’s an increase of over 60% across the industry.
This is not a small adjustment. It’s one of the more substantial shifts in network costs in recent years and it affects all electricity suppliers operating in the UK.
Why this affects your contract
Even if your contract is fixed, not all elements of your bill are.
Most business energy agreements separate costs into two parts:
• the wholesale cost of the energy itself, which is fixed for the agreed term
• and wider industry and network charges, which remain variable
TNUoS falls into the second category.
Because these charges are set externally and updated each year, suppliers are required to pass them through in line with the terms of the contract. This is similar to how VAT or the Climate Change Levy are applied, they are not controlled by suppliers and change when the underlying regulations change.
In many cases, the final TNUoS rates for a given year are not confirmed at the point a contract is agreed. That means adjustments can still occur later, even on fixed agreements.
What you might see in practice
For some businesses, this will appear as an increase in standing charges. For others, it may be reflected in unit rates or a combination of both.
The exact approach depends on how each supplier structures and applies these costs within their billing.
What’s consistent across the market is that these changes are not being introduced on a case-by-case basis. They are being applied in response to a national adjustment in regulated transmission costs.
Why these changes are happening
The increase in TNUoS charges is linked to the ongoing development and reinforcement of the UK’s electricity network.
As more renewable generation is added and demand patterns shift, the infrastructure required to support it is becoming more complex and more expensive to maintain and expand.
These costs are recovered through regulated charges like TNUoS, which are spread across electricity users nationwide.
While the detail sits at a regulatory level, the outcome is something businesses will see reflected in their bills.
It’s worth being aware, not alarmed
Although the increase is significant at an industry level, the impact on individual businesses will vary depending on usage, contract structure and how charges are applied.
For some, the change will be noticeable. For others, it may be relatively modest.
What matters is being aware of why it’s happening, so that if you do see adjustments on your bill or communication from your supplier, it doesn’t come as a surprise.
If you’d like a second look
If anything changes on your account, or if you’d simply like a clearer understanding of how your current setup is affected, it’s always worth taking a closer look.
In many cases, a quick review can help put things into context and make sure everything is aligned as it should be.
If you’d like us to talk it through with you, just get in touch. We’re always happy to help you make sense of it.
