CISAF: Higher Electricity Subsidies for Energy-Intensive Industries. Draft Bill UD459 before the Standing Committee
The draft bill providing electricity cost subsidies for energy-intensive businesses has reached another stage in the government’s legislative process. On 23 September 2026, draft bill UD459 was considered at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers. Significantly, the version submitted to the Committee differs from the draft presented in early September, introducing, among other changes, the possibility of increasing support under the EU’s METSAF framework. The draft bill on support for businesses in energy-intensive sectors in respect of electricity costs was included as item 6 on the agenda of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers meeting held on 23 September 2026. The bill is sponsored by the Minister of Finance and Economy. This means that the draft has moved from public consultation, the collection of opinions and interministerial coordination to the next stage of the government’s legislative process. It does not yet mean that the bill has been enacted or approved by the Council of Ministers. However, from the perspective of energy-intensive businesses, work on the new support instrument is now at an advanced stage.
Electricity subsidies under CISAF
The proposed scheme is based on the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF). Its purpose is to temporarily reduce electricity costs for businesses operating in sectors particularly exposed to high energy prices and international competition. The official policy outline also links the aid to investments supporting businesses’ energy transition.
Under the version submitted to the Standing Committee, eligible consumption would cover 50% of the electricity purchased and consumed by a business during the eligible period. The standard subsidy cap would be 50% of the RK price, defined as the arithmetic mean of the quarterly average electricity sales prices on the competitive market published by the President of Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office (URE).
At the same time, the support must not reduce the electricity price for eligible consumption below EUR 50/MWh.
Aid would be granted for a period of no more than three years.
A significant change: METSAF added to the draft
The most important change in the version prepared for the Standing Committee meeting is the introduction of the option to apply the additional aid rules provided under the Middle East Crisis Temporary State Aid Framework (METSAF).
The draft provides that, in 2027, the standard support cap could be increased by up to 20 percentage points of the RK price for electricity purchased and consumed between 1 March and 31 December 2026.
In practice, this means that the maximum subsidy rate for that period could rise from 50% to 70% of the RK price.
It should be stressed, however, that this does not mean reimbursement of 70% of a business’s total electricity bill. The mechanism would still apply to eligible electricity consumption, which the draft defines as 50% of the electricity purchased and consumed. The amount of aid would also be subject to additional limits under EU and national rules.
This is a significant change compared with the draft submitted for consultation on 2 September 2026. In that version, the standard mechanism was based on a 50% cap and did not yet include the specific METSAF provision. The original draft was first submitted for consultation in early September.
An additional 20 percentage points without increasing the investment obligation
The structure of the additional METSAF aid is particularly significant.
The draft provides that the increase in support resulting from METSAF would not be included in the amount of aid used to calculate the investment obligation.
This matters because, under the main CISAF mechanism, a business would be required to allocate funds equivalent to at least 50% of the aid amount to specified investments.
These would include projects involving energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy, electricity demand flexibility and infrastructure enabling installations to operate more flexibly.
As a general rule, the investment would have to be brought into operation within 48 months of the aid being granted, with the possibility of extending this period to 60 months in certain cases.
Who would be eligible to apply for aid?
The draft retains relatively restrictive eligibility criteria. High electricity consumption alone would not be sufficient.
A business would have to meet all of the following conditions, among others:
- Generate more than 50% of its revenue from activities covered by one of the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD) codes listed in the annex to the Act.
- Hold industrial consumer status and be included in the register maintained under Article 52 of the Renewable Energy Sources Act.
- Carry out an eligible activity during the eligible period.
- Meet requirements concerning its financial position and the absence of specified outstanding liabilities.
- Have the necessary rights to the property required to carry out the mandatory investment.
Industrial consumer status therefore remains one of the key eligibility criteria. This may be particularly relevant to businesses whose activities could qualify for CISAF support but which have not previously been included in the register of industrial consumers.
The list of PKD codes has also changed
Following the consultations, the annex listing eligible business activities was also amended.
The original version included 91 PKD 2025 entries. In the later version prepared for the Standing Committee stage, the list was aligned more extensively with the PKD 2025 classification and now contains more codes.
However, an increase in the number of codes should not automatically be interpreted as a proportionate expansion of the sectors eligible for aid. Some changes result from the transition to the new PKD 2025 structure and the division of previously broader activity categories into more specific codes.
For businesses, this nevertheless means that eligibility should now be checked against the new annex, rather than solely against its early September version.
Security covering 120% of the aid would still be required
The financial requirements associated with obtaining aid were among the issues widely discussed during the consultations. Industry organisations highlighted, among other concerns, the combination of the requirement to finance part of the investment from the business’s own funds or external sources with the requirement to secure repayment of the aid. For example, in its consultation response, the Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry highlighted the importance of aid cumulation rules, eligibility criteria and investment obligations.
The later version of the draft revised the structure of the provisions governing security, but the underlying economic burden remains.
Businesses would still be required to submit a declaration of voluntary submission to enforcement for an amount equal to 120% of the total aid granted.
The requirement that a business’s own funds or external financing cover at least 20% of the eligible costs of the investment specified in the application also remains.
For some businesses, these conditions may be just as important as the amount of the potential subsidy.
The programme could provide billions of zlotys in support
The draft bill sets the following expenditure limits for the aid programme itself:
PLN 800 million in 2027, PLN 1.6 billion in 2028, PLN 1.6 billion in 2029 and PLN 800 million in 2030.
This amounts to a maximum of PLN 4.8 billion allocated to supporting businesses in 2027–2030.
However, the Act’s entry into force would not automatically trigger payments. The draft provides for the Council of Ministers to adopt a separate aid programme setting out, among other things, detailed eligibility criteria, application procedures, eligible investment types and rules for accounting for the support received.
The granting of aid would also be conditional on a positive European Commission decision confirming the programme’s compatibility with the internal market.
The first eligible period could be particularly important
If the bill is enacted in its current form, it is scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2027.
For businesses, however, an important point is that the amount of aid would be calculated using data from an earlier eligible period. In addition, the specific METSAF provision applies directly to electricity purchased and consumed between 1 March and 31 December 2026.
Businesses should therefore not postpone assessing their eligibility for future support until applications open.
They can already review, in particular, their PKD codes and revenue breakdown, industrial consumer status, the volume of electricity purchased and consumed in 2026, their use of compensation for indirect ETS costs, and their ability to carry out an investment that meets the programme’s requirements.
What is next for draft bill UD459?
The inclusion of UD459 on the agenda of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers on 23 September confirms that the draft has reached the next stage of the government’s legislative process.
At this stage, it will be particularly important to monitor whether the version incorporating the additional METSAF mechanism is retained as work progresses and when the draft is submitted to the Council of Ministers for consideration.
For energy-intensive businesses, however, the most important change in recent weeks is already clear: the draft is no longer limited to the standard CISAF mechanism. For part of the electricity consumed in 2026, the draft provides for the possibility of applying the higher cap available under METSAF, which could significantly increase the financial value of future support.
Krzysztof Wiński
Partner, Thedy & Partners
Email: krzysztof.winski@thedy.pl, tel. 519 506 434