Up to a million households have been answering the call from the National Grid this week to curb their electricity as part of the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) scheme.
Families who have a smart meter and who have signed up to the scheme via their energy supplier received a notification on Monday and yesterday asking them to cut their energy usage in return for payment. Monday's scheme ran from 5-6pm and yesterday' was 90 minutes between 4.30and 6pm. This week is the first time the new scheme, by the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), has been activated outside the trials last year and the triggers came because the National Grid says supplies remain "tighter than normal".
Around 26 energy firms are signed up to the DFS scheme, including British Gas, EDF, Eon and Octopus Energy. National Grid ESO said suppliers will get a “guaranteed minimum price” £3 per unit (kWh) saved, but suppliers are able to choose how much of this saving to pass on, or to pay out more.
Read more: British Gas to give £250 energy credit to thousands of customers
According to National Grid ESO, a “typical” household participating in all 12 tests could save approximately £100 in total, but many have taken to social media to scoff at the savings their efforts made.
@GeorginaMason2 said: "We saved the vast sum of 13p. I have seen my energy bill treble in the last year and that is with using as little as I possibly can. Something has to change, we can't carry on like this," while @pollybassi joked: "We saved 97p the other day Going to book a summer holiday today!"
@Rambling_Tweets commented: "It's all a bit of a show, the energy firms forget that most of us have been cutting back on electricity use for a few years already. How do you drop usage by any significant amount when you're already cutting that usage to the bone?" and @MagpieMon said: "We tried it too. They said we hadn't saved enough to get any money back. Sat in the dark with just TV, fridge and freezer on!"
@stfcphil joked: "So I tried this #energysaving hour thing that is being pushed out tonight when it was trialled by @OctopusEnergy. Doesn't work! You turn everything off, spend a tenner in the pub and get about 30p off of your bill. Where's the incentive?"
It is likely the trigger will be pulled again in coming weeks, as more cold weather heads our way and National Grid assesses the effectiveness of the scheme. We take a look at what the scheme is all about, how you can take part and how much money the energy companies reckon it could save you.
What is the scheme?
The Demand Flexibility Service is a voluntary scheme where households with smart meters are rewarded for reducing their energy use at certain peak times. In total, 26 energy firms offer the scheme. The scheme aims to save energy without resorting to drastic actions such as blackouts, firing up old coal-fired power stations or building expensive new ones.
Who can take part?
Customers with a smart meter whose energy supplier offers the service are eligible to sign up. Those who sign up must permit their provider to access their smart meter so they can read its data 30 minutes for the duration of the service.
Does it means hours sitting in the dark?
National Grid ESO says DFS is about reducing your electricity use where you can and is not asking people to go without. It advises families that efficient light-bulbs and modern TV consume very little electricity and advises poeple to instead avoid using power-hungry appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, electric showers and immersion heaters.
When is the next session?
There is no concrete plan for the next session. Eligible customers will be told the day before an event takes place via email or app. Most providers require customers to opt in to earn the reward from the session.
How much could I save?
In trials, most have made a saving of around £2 per hour-long session, but National Grid says heavy electricity users could earn as much as £20 by cutting back. However, families have reported savings of much smaller amounts in some cases.
British Gas says it will pay £6 for every kilowatt hour saved, with the potential to earn £200. It has also pledged to boost customers' small savings to make sure they earn at least £1 from each event. Octopus predicts the average home will save £36 over winter, but up to £100 depending on energy usage. Participants will not find out immediately how much money they saved. Octopus Energy and E.ON customers must wait up to 14 days before it appears on their online account or monthly bill.
Will it be expanded to all?
There are currently no plans to expand the scheme to households without smart meters and National Grid ESO has not released any plans as to how this scheme could be used to build up tariffs based on variable pricing..
Do I have to take part?
Participating in the service is completely optional and customers do not have to take part if they don't want to, even if they have signed up to take part. Anyone unable or unwilling to reduce their energy usage during a DFS event will just pay for their usage as normal.
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