Households will be given more money back to use energy outside of peak hours after the National Grid ESO raised the discount it will offer.
The incentive for avoiding energy-guzzling appliances when demand is high has been increased from 52p per kilowatt hour to £3.
It means households who cook or use the washing machine late at night could make typical savings of £100 this winter.
It comes after the electricity system operator (ESO) warned Brits could face three-hour planned blackouts in a worse-case scenario.
This would be in the event of system operators suffering a shortage of gas - although experts say this is "unlikely" to happen.
Writing in The Guardian, Fintan Slye, the director of National Grid ESO, said businesses and homes "can become virtual power plants and, crucially, get paid like one too".
“For a consumer that could mean a typical household could save approximately £100,” he said.
“Or industrial and commercial businesses with larger energy usage, they could potentially save multiples of this.”
The ESO first published details about the new "Demand Flexibility Service" in a report last month.
It is down to each energy supplier to decide whether they sign up - if they do, then their customers will be encouraged to use less energy during peak times.
But you'll need a smart meter to take part in the scheme.
The idea of using less electricity when demand is normally particularly high is that it should help ease the burden on power grids and prevent blackouts.
Customers will be emailed or texted a time slot in advance if power cuts become likely.
The message will ask them to only use electricity when demand is less - typically after 7pm.
If households do decide to do this, they’ll receive a payment as a reward to help them lower their energy bills.
It is expected the scheme will run from November to March.
Octopus Energy, who piloted the ESO scheme earlier this year, has announced a new Saving Sessions service where customers are being paid to cut their energy in peak times.
It expects to pay customers £4 on average during peak times between November and March, and says this will add up to £100 over winter.
To get the full £100, an Octopus customer would need to cut energy use by 1kWh once or twice a week, up to around 25 times in total.
OVO Energy customers who cut their energy use by 12.5% between 4pm and 7pm will get £20 each month.
The new Power Move trial will run from November to March as well, meaning OVO households can also get up to £100.
The OVO scheme is separate to the ESO initiative.
It comes as the Energy Price Guarantee - which has "frozen" energy bills for the typical household at £2,500 a year - will be watered down from April.
Instead of running as a universal scheme for two years, there will be targeted support for the most vulnerable - although the Government has yet to say what the support will be.
