Octopus Energy has said that some of its customers earned up to £8.75 in credits for switching up their energy use on Monday evening and helping reduce the strain on the power grid. The energy supplier said that more than 400,000 customers took part in the challenge between 5-6pm on Monday.
The average customer was awarded between £1.25 and £2.50 in special points which entitle them to rewards, reducing their demand by around 60% on average. Together these customers reduced demand by around 200 megawatt hours (MWh), about the same amount of energy as Bristol uses during an hour.
The company is the most active in the new scheme, which pays customers to switch off appliances. The so-called Demand Flexibility Service was launched by National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) to help reduce peak demand during times where supplies are tighter than usual.
