THE National Grid has shared that households will be offered discounts on energy bills in a bid to avoid blackouts.
The discounts will be available to homes that cut down on their use of energy during peak hours and could save households up to £100.
Initially, there will be 12 days of testing, designed to see how customers respond, that will take place between November and March.
However, only homes that have smart meters will be able to take part in the scheme.
📢Our Demand Flexibility Service is now live📢 If you’re interested in signing up to take part you can find more information in this explainer 👉 https://t.co/RG6d7OfdHq
— National Grid ESO (@NationalGridESO) November 4, 2022
Currently, in the UK, there are only 14 million households in England, Scotland and Wales where the scheme is being tested and already have smart electricity meters installed.
Customers that are taking part will be given 24 hours notice of the test day and where they will be asked to reduce their peak-time electricity use if they can during a one-hour period between 4pm and 7pm.
That means they will be asked to delay their use of a tumble dryer or washing machine or cooking dinner in the microwave rather than the oven.
The National Grid added that they will pay energy suppliers £3 for every kilowatt-hour during the test periods, however, energy suppliers need to sign up for the scheme.
The suppliers will need to tell the customers how much they receive and if money will be taken off their bills, credited to accounts or if there's an option to withdraw cash.
The idea is being to see if it can serve as an "insurance policy" if it needs to ease demand on the grid this winter.
It comes as households were previously warned of power cuts that could last up to three hours if gas suppliers run extremely low.
The service has been approved by UK energy regulator Ofgem, allowing energy suppliers to sign up.
The scheme is also said to be open to businesses that could change production schedules or switch to batteries or generators during peak times.
