People with British Gas, Octopus, EDF and E.On are being paid not to use electricity

National Grid has announced a new scheme where suppliers can pay customers to not use electricity.

John Pettigrew, the company's chief executive, hopes that the incentive will help avoid blackouts this winter, despite previously warning that such blackouts are "unlikely". The programme is designed to encourage customers to only use electricity during off-peak hours on days when energy supplies are tight.

National Grid hopes that it will help ease the burden on the grid by helping bring down peak use. Most customers in the UK use electricity at similar times, with a particular spike in the evening when they get home from work.