Business Energy Cost Index
What UK businesses actually pay for gas and electricity, by company size, based on official government data. The headline: prices have eased over the past year, but the smallest firms still pay a steep premium for every unit they use.
Business Electricity · average price
Business Gas · average price
What businesses pay, by size
Unit prices vary widely with how much energy a business uses. These are the average prices paid by UK non-domestic consumers in Q1 2026, including the Climate Change Levy, in pence per kWh.
| Business size band | Electricity (p/kWh) | Gas (p/kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| Very small / micro | 35.02 | 7.48 |
| Small | 28.76 | 4.77 |
| Medium | 25.00 | 4.55 |
| Large | 23.93 | 4.46 |
| Very large | 21.93 | 4.53 |
| All non-domestic average | 24.14 | 5.17 |
What it means for businesses
Business energy costs have come down from their crisis peaks. Compared with a year earlier, the average non-domestic electricity price is down around 6% and gas around 7%. But the easing is not evenly shared: both edged higher in the first quarter of 2026 – electricity up about 0.6% and gas around 2% on the previous quarter – and the smallest businesses still pay around 45% more per unit of electricity than larger users (35.02p versus 23.93p), and roughly two-thirds more for gas.
That gap between size bands is the real story for most companies. A micro business has far less buying power than a large industrial site, so the rate you are offered depends heavily on how your contract is procured and timed, not only on where wholesale prices sit. That is where independent procurement makes the biggest difference.
For journalists and analysts
You are welcome to cite the Catalyst Business Energy Cost Index. Please attribute to Catalyst Commercial with a link to this page. For comment, the latest figures or a breakdown by sector, contact our energy desk on 0121 764 7171 or info@catalyst-commercial.co.uk.
Suggested citation: “Catalyst Business Energy Cost Index, Catalyst Commercial, Q1 2026, based on DESNZ data.”
Methodology and source. Figures are the average prices of gas and electricity purchased by UK non-domestic consumers, including the Climate Change Levy, in pence per kWh. Source: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Quarterly Energy Prices, table 3.4.2, released 30 June 2026, covering up to Q1 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Size bands reflect DESNZ annual-consumption groupings. These are official benchmark averages, not a quote or an offer; the rate any individual business pays depends on its contract and how it is procured.