Small firms braced for jump in energy costs Small motorsport businesses on fixed rate energy deals face a surge in their bills when the Government's current Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends. As of April, a cap on the price of gas and electricity will be replaced by a new scheme which offers a much less generous discount on energy bills for small motorsport businesses. The Government has set aside £5.5bn for the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme, which will last 12 months. The current Energy Bill Relief Scheme has cost around £18bn. Paul Wilson, policy director for the Federation of Small Businesses, warns: “We will definitely see more businesses close, and if energy prices go back up to the high levels we've seen before, the number of closures will be much higher.” He added: “We're moving from a scheme that gives quite a high degree of certainty over the price that businesses are going to have to pay for electricity and gas, to one where you might get a very limited discount, and only in circumstances when the price you are paying goes over a certain threshold.”