Important Update: Nuclear Regulated Asset Base (RAB) Charge Introduction
Moving into 2026, there are some significant changes in the UK energy market that may affect your electricity bills: the introduction of a new levy associated with the government's Nuclear Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model.
This model is a financing framework designed by the government to secure private investment for new nuclear power generation projects, supporting the UK's transition towards a net-zero future. The cost is recovered from energy consumers through their electricity bills.
Key Details on the Nuclear RAB Charge
Supplier Communication: Please note that your energy supplier should have already communicated directly with you regarding this regulatory change.
Who is Affected (Fixed-Term Agreements): This levy will appear as a separate charge on electricity bills for any fixed-term Supply Agreement signed before the cutoff date specified by your individual supplier.
Start Date: The RAB rate will be applied based on energy consumption from 1st December 2025.
The Initial Rate: The initial rate is set at £3.455 per megawatt-hour (MWh), which is approximately 0.35p per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Example: A typical small business using 10,000 kWh annually would see an approximate annual charge of £35.
Rate Review: The rate is subject to quarterly review by the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) who are a government-owned organisation.
For New Agreements: Please note that for all fixed-term Supply Agreements signed on or after your supplier's specified cutoff date, the RAB levy has already been included within your contracted electricity unit rate(s) at the point of sale. As this is a government-mandated charge, all consumers will contribute to this scheme in some form, regardless of when their contract was agreed.
How Outsourced Utilities is going to help…
At Outsourced Utilities, we are committed to ensuring our customers receive the best level of support possible, especially during regulatory changes.
For Bills with Separate RAB Charges: If the Nuclear RAB charge is due to be added as a separate line on your bill, and you are onboarded onto our Fully Managed Service receiving our invoice validation checks within your Energy Dashboard, we will be adding specific Nuclear RAB validation checks to ensure you are charged at the correct government-mandated level.
For Bills with Included RAB Charges: For any contracts where the Nuclear RAB cost is already included in your unit rate, and you are onboarded to our Fully Managed Service, we will continue to validate your invoices and make sure that this charge is not added a second time as a separate line item on your bills.
Our priority remains to manage your energy costs efficiently and provide complete transparency regarding your billing.
Should you have any questions about this new charge or how it applies to your specific contract, please do not hesitate to contact our support team using the details below;
Email address: support@outsourcedutilities.co.uk
If you are not currently one of our Fully Managed Service customers and would like to understand more about how we can manage this new charge (and many other billing complexities) for you, please reach out to us.
