What is the FIT charge on my business electricity bill?
The Feed-in Tariff levy is your share of the cost of paying small renewable generators, mostly rooftop solar, under a scheme that closed to new applicants on 1 April 2019 but still pays the installations already on it. Ofgem adds up what those generators were paid each quarter, then spreads the total across every licensed electricity supplier in Great Britain in proportion to how much electricity each one supplied. That process is called levelisation, and your supplier recovers its share from you as a per-kWh line.
- The levelisation fund for one quarter
- £358.1m
- 1 January to 31 March 2026, the fourth quarter of FIT year 16. Ofgem published £358,081,232.28.
- Per kWh across that quarter, derived
- 0.5335p
- The fund divided by the 67,123,728 MWh of relevant supply it was spread over. Ofgem publishes both halves and no rate.
- Installations still being paid
- 869,394
- 6,491 MW of total installed capacity at 31 March 2026, of which 79.31% is solar photovoltaic.
What the levy pays for, and who sets it
The Feed-in Tariff paid people who installed small renewable generation twice over: a generation tariff on everything the installation produced, and an export tariff on what it sent back to the grid. It ran from 1 April 2010 and closed to new applicants on 1 April 2019. Closing it stopped new entrants, not the payments.
An accredited installation has a maximum eligibility period of 20 years from its eligibility date, except solar photovoltaic accredited before 1 August 2012, which has 25 years, and micro combined heat and power, which has 10. So the last installations to join, in March 2019, are contracted to be paid into 2039, and the levy that funds them runs alongside. At 31 March 2026 there were 869,394 installations still in scheme and 530 that had reached the end of support, all of them micro-CHP.
The scheme is made by the Feed-in Tariffs Order 2012 under sections 41 and 43 of the Energy Act 2008, and by the electricity supply standard licence conditions. Where the two disagree the Order prevails. Ofgem administers it, keeps the Central FIT Register and runs the money round. This is a different instrument from the Contracts for Difference levy and the Capacity Market, and a different thing again from the network charges, DUoS, TNUoS and BSUoS, which pay for wires and system operation rather than for policy.
Levelisation, and why some suppliers get paid
Suppliers did not sign up for FIT generators evenly. A supplier with a large legacy domestic book pays out tens of millions a quarter to rooftop solar; a new business-only supplier pays out nothing. Levelisation is the mechanism that stops that being a competitive accident.
Each quarter, Ofgem totals what every FIT licensee actually paid generators, adds the administration costs allowed for the year, and calls the result the levelisation fund. Every licensed electricity supplier then reports how much electricity it supplied in Great Britain and how much of that went to certified energy intensive industries. Deducting the second from the first gives relevant supply, and a supplier share of relevant supply is its market share. Multiply the fund by that share and you have what the supplier ought to have contributed.
Compare that with what it did pay. Pay more than your share and the fund pays you the difference. Pay less, and you pay the difference in. Suppliers with no FIT generators at all pay their whole share in cash, which is where the money that reaches your bill comes from.
Generation payments, plus net export payments, plus qualifying FIT costs. Net export can be negative when the market value of the exported units exceeds the export tariff paid for them, which lowers the fund.
Electricity supplied to customers in Great Britain, less the exempt volume supplied to certified energy intensive industries. Losses are excluded, and exports are not netted off imports.
Every active licensed supplier added together. In Scheme Year 15 it was 240,978,492 MWh, or 95.4% of all electricity supplied.
- All licensees, every active licensed electricity supplier in GB
- Domestic, supply to households
- Business, supply to commercial and industrial customers
- Non-FIT suppliers, suppliers with no FIT generators pay their whole share
- Certified EII volume, Exempt at 100% since 1 April 2024, on the proportion each certificate states per meter.
- Network losses, Supply volumes exclude losses in transmission and distribution, unlike some other levies.
- Behind-the-meter generation, Self-generated electricity is never supplied, so it never reaches the base.
- Overseas renewables, Guarantees of Origin exempted supply only in FIT years 7 to 13, ending 31 March 2023.
What it costs, worked through
Ofgem publishes the fund and the supply, never a rate. Dividing one by the other gives the cost per unit that quarter, which is the same arithmetic levelisation itself does. For the quarter of 1 January to 31 March 2026:
- Levelisation fund for the quarter
- £358,081,232.28
- Total electricity supplied by all licensees
- 70,354,600 MWh
- Less exempt supply to energy intensive industries
- 3,230,872 MWh
- Relevant supply the fund is spread over
- 67,123,728 MWh
- 358,081,232.28 divided by 67,123,728
- £5.334645 per MWh
- The same figure in pence per kWh
- 0.533464p
Take a site consuming 250,000 kWh in that quarter, which is an assumption, at the derived rate, which is arithmetic on two published totals.
- Assumed consumption, 1 January to 31 March 2026
- 250,000 kWh
- 250,000 x 0.533464p, divided by 100
- £1,333.66
- The same site holding an EII certificate at 85.3%
- £196.05
A quarter is not a year, and January to March is the worst quarter solar has. Over the whole of Scheme Year 15 the fund was £1,725,741,218 against 240,978,492 MWh of relevant supply, which is 0.716139p per kWh, a third more than the winter quarter above. The rate a supplier fixes in a contract is an average across that swing, not a copy of any single quarter.
| Component | Value |
|---|---|
| Generation payments | £1,732,082,151 |
| Net deemed and metered export payments | minus £23,879,113 |
| Qualifying FIT costs | £17,538,180 |
| Total levelisation fund | £1,725,741,218 |
Where it appears on your invoice
There is no standard line name, and no published rate to hold one against.
| What the line says | What to do with it |
|---|---|
| FiT, or FIT levy, or Feed-in Tariff | The clearest case. Check the rate against your contract, which is the only per-customer source there is. |
| FIT levelisation | The same thing named after the mechanism. Some suppliers use this on an annual statement. |
| Combined policy levies, or environmental charges | A bundle with the Renewables Obligation and others inside it. Only the total is checkable until the supplier itemises. |
| Nothing at all | On a fully fixed contract it sits inside the unit rate with a risk premium on top. You still pay it. |
How to check it
The honest position is that a FIT line cannot be rebuilt from a published rate, because no per-customer rate is published. What can be checked is everything around it.
- The rate against the contract. Your agreed p/kWh is the reference. A pass-through term that lets the supplier move it should say on what evidence.
- The volume. FIT is charged on supplied units, not loss-adjusted ones, unlike AAHEDC. A line built on a settlement volume is overstated.
- Double counting. A bundled levy line and an itemised FIT line on the same invoice charge you twice.
- The exemption. A certified site should see the certified proportion removed. See the EII exemption guide and the glossary entry.
What is changing
One change landed this year. On 31 March 2026 the government modified the supplier licence conditions so that FIT tariffs are adjusted by the Consumer Prices Index rather than the Retail Prices Index, from FIT year 17 onward. Ofgem applied CPI of 3.4% to the tariff table effective 1 April 2026. CPI has run below RPI for years, so this slows the growth of the fund, and of your line, without changing the mechanism at all.
The other direction of travel is attrition. Micro-CHP has been dropping out since 2021 on its 10-year period; every other technology has 17 to 25 years, and those start reaching the end of eligibility from 2027. The fund has now come in under the Control for Low Carbon Levies forecast for four years running, by £264.3m in Scheme Year 15.
Deep dives and edge cases
Why your bill pays for rooftop solar you do not ownAnd why that is a policy decision rather than a billing error.＋
The Feed-in Tariff was funded through electricity bills rather than through taxation, which was a deliberate choice made in the Energy Act 2008. Every unit of electricity supplied in Great Britain carries a share, so a factory with no solar panels pays towards a rooftop array in a suburb.
The one structural way the charge falls is to consume fewer supplied units. Electricity generated and used behind your own meter never enters supply, so it never reaches the base the fund is divided over. Shifting load between half hours does nothing here, which is the opposite of imbalance exposure and of red-band avoidance, and worth knowing before a supplier sells you the idea that a half-hourly meter will reduce it.
Mutualisation, and what happens when a supplier failsThe failure of one supplier becomes a cost on every other bill.＋
If a supplier does not pay its levelisation invoice within five working days of the due date, the fund is short and FIT licensees are paid less than they are owed. Where the shortfall reaches the mutualisation trigger range, the other suppliers make it up. For FIT year 17 the Secretary of State set that range at a lower limit of £5,764,757 and a higher limit of £57,647,573.
The administration is charged the same way. For FIT year 17 the determination sets qualifying FIT costs at £10 for each new generator and £15 for each ongoing generator for a large FIT licensee, and £25 and £30 for a small one, which is why a supplier with a huge legacy FIT book carries an administration cost that a new entrant does not.
Questions
What is the FIT charge on my business electricity bill?＋
It is your share of the cost of the Feed-in Tariff scheme, which pays small renewable generators, mostly rooftop solar, for the electricity they produce and export. Ofgem totals what those generators were paid each quarter and spreads it across every licensed electricity supplier in Great Britain in proportion to how much electricity each one supplied. Your supplier recovers its share from customers as a charge in pence per kWh.
Is the Feed-in Tariff scheme not closed?＋
It closed to new applicants on 1 April 2019, which stopped new entrants and not the payments. An accredited installation has a maximum eligibility period of 20 years from its eligibility date, except solar photovoltaic accredited before 1 August 2012, which has 25 years, and micro combined heat and power, which has 10. Installations that joined in March 2019 are therefore contracted to be paid into 2039, and the levy that funds them runs alongside.
What is FIT levelisation?＋
Levelisation is the quarterly process that shares the cost of the scheme across all licensed electricity suppliers by market share. Ofgem adds up what each FIT licensee actually paid generators, adds the administration costs allowed for the year, and calls the total the levelisation fund. Each supplier is then charged the fund multiplied by its share of relevant supply. A supplier that paid out more than its share receives the difference from the fund, and one that paid out less pays the difference in.
What is the FIT levy rate per kWh?＋
There is no published one. Ofgem publishes the levelisation fund and the supply totals it is spread across, and no rate. Dividing one by the other gives the cost per unit for the period. For the quarter of 1 January to 31 March 2026 the fund was 358,081,232.28 pounds and relevant supply was 67,123,728 MWh, which is 0.533464 pence per kWh. Across the whole of Scheme Year 15 the fund was 1,725,741,218 pounds against 240,978,492 MWh, which is 0.716139 pence per kWh. Both figures are arithmetic on published totals, not rates any supplier is obliged to bill at.
Why do I pay for other rooftop solar panels?＋
Because the Feed-in Tariff was funded through electricity bills rather than through taxation, which was the choice made in the Energy Act 2008 and given effect by the Feed-in Tariffs Order 2012. Every unit of electricity supplied in Great Britain carries a share of the scheme cost, so a business with no generation of its own pays towards installations it does not own and does not benefit from directly.
How big is the FIT levelisation fund?＋
For the quarter of 1 January to 31 March 2026 it was 358,081,232.28 pounds. Across Scheme Year 15, 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, it was 1,725,741,218 pounds, made up of 1,732,082,151 pounds of generation payments, minus 23,879,113 pounds of net export payments, plus 17,538,180 pounds of qualifying FIT costs. Net export payments were negative because the market value of the exported electricity exceeded the export tariff paid for it.
Does the EII exemption cover the Feed-in Tariff?＋
Yes. An Energy Intensive Industries certificate removes a certified proportion of four schemes: Contracts for Difference, the Renewables Obligation, the small-scale Feed-in Tariff and the GB Capacity Market. The exemption level for the certified proportion rose to 100 per cent on 1 April 2024, for Scheme Year 15 and after. The certified proportion is stated per meter and is rarely the whole meter, so a bill that exempts the whole supply is over-exempted.
Is FIT charged on metered units or settlement volume?＋
On supplied units. Ofgem instructs suppliers to report the electricity they supplied to customers in Great Britain, excluding losses in transmission and distribution, and without netting exports off imports. That is different from AAHEDC, which is invoiced on a loss-adjusted settlement volume, so a FIT line built on a loss-adjusted figure is overstated.
What happens if a supplier does not pay its levelisation invoice?＋
The fund is short and FIT licensees are paid less than they are owed. If the amount is not paid within five working days of the due date and the shortfall reaches the mutualisation trigger range, mutualisation begins and the remaining suppliers make up the difference. For FIT year 17 the Secretary of State set that range at a lower limit of 5,764,757 pounds and a higher limit of 57,647,573 pounds.
Why did the FIT rate change in April 2026?＋
On 31 March 2026 the government modified the electricity supply standard licence conditions so that FIT tariffs are adjusted by the Consumer Prices Index rather than the Retail Prices Index, from FIT year 17 onward. Ofgem applied CPI of 3.4 per cent to the tariff table effective 1 April 2026. CPI has generally run below RPI, so the change slows the growth of the fund without altering the levelisation mechanism.
Can I reduce my FIT charge?＋
Only by taking fewer supplied units, or by holding an EII certificate. There is no time band to shift out of and no region to move to, because the levy is spread by volume across a whole quarter of national supply. Electricity generated and consumed behind your own meter is never supplied, so it never enters the base the fund is divided over.
Why is FIT bundled with other levies on my bill?＋
Because suppliers are free to itemise or combine. A single line called combined policy levies or environmental charges typically holds the Feed-in Tariff, the Renewables Obligation and the Contracts for Difference supplier obligation together. Only the total can be checked until the supplier itemises, which means an overcharge in one part can be cancelled by an undercharge in another and still net to a total that looks right.
A levy with no published rate, checked the way it can be.
Simplest Energy prices the Feed-in Tariff line from your contract rate on the period consumption, applies any certified exemption, and shows the arithmetic.
- The FIT line checked against the contract rate, which is the only per-customer source there is, because no per-customer schedule is published
- Any certified EII exempt proportion removed before the line rounds to pence
- An itemised FIT line compared on its own rather than netted against a bundled levy total
- Flagging a contract FIT rate that sits far from the levelisation fund and supply totals Ofgem publishes each quarter, so a rate can be questioned as well as reconciled
Built from the primary document.
Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) scheme
Levelisation: the periodic and annual process
Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) Quarterly Report, issue 64
Feed-in Tariff Levelisation Report, January to March 2026
Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) Annual Report, Scheme Year 15
Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) Guidance for Licensed Electricity Suppliers, version 17.3
The Feed-in Tariffs Order 2012, Part 6: levelisation
Feed-in Tariffs determinations, year 17
- Last reviewed
- 3 September 2026
- Technical basis
- Ofgem FIT Quarterly Report issue 64, published 29 June 2026; the Ofgem FIT levelisation report for 1 January to 31 March 2026; the Ofgem FIT Annual Report for Scheme Year 15, published 10 December 2025; Ofgem Guidance for Licensed Electricity Suppliers version 17.3; Part 6 of the Feed-in Tariffs Order 2012; and the DESNZ Annual Determination Notice for FIT year 17, signed 25 February 2026, all checked 3 September 2026
- Review trigger
- The next Ofgem FIT quarterly report and levelisation report, which move the fund and the supply totals every quarter; the FIT Annual Report for Scheme Year 16, due around December 2026; or the Annual Determination Notice for FIT year 18, due from the Secretary of State by the end of February 2027, which resets the mutualisation trigger range and the qualifying FIT costs.
This guide explains how the Feed-in Tariff levy is set and levelised. It is not tax, legal or procurement advice. The per-kWh figures here are derived from published totals rather than published as rates, and no supplier is obliged to bill at them. Check the linked source before relying on a figure.