Two energy companies are planning on rewarding customers for using less energy in peak hours over the next few months.
Families whose homes are supplied by Octopus or Ovo could get around £100 back from their bills if they have a smart meter and dial down their use when demand on the National Grid is at its highest. The two companies are launching schemes to help the UK avoid blackouts during the coldest months.
Both new programmes are part of a new "Demand Flexibility Service" launched by the National Grid earlier this week, to reduce the small chance of power cuts this winter.
Read more: Nine ways to cut the cost of using your tumble dryer this winter
Octopus' scheme is called Saving Sessions, and follows a trial earlier this year, when 100,000 people signed up, saving on average 0.7kWh during the window, which equated to between 23p and £4.35 for each customer.
With the latest scheme, which customers can sign up to now , Octopus will email or text a time slot in advance if power cuts become likely, and if customers cut their energy use during that window they will get money back. For every unit of energy customers save compared to their normal usage during a specific timeframe, Octopus expects to pay them £4 on average.
The firms says this means customers could be rewarded to the tune of around £100 over the course of the 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 when the scheme is running, between November 2022 and March 2023.
Octopus chief executive Greg Jackson said: “Instead of cutting off whole chunks of the country if we are short of gas, we can reward people for using less energy at times of peak demand. We were the first energy supplier to offer this service to our customers, and we hope others will follow our lead. By doing so, we can make blackouts a thing of the past, and bring costs down for everyone.”
Ovo's version of the scheme is a trial called Power Move, which will also reward customers up to £100 for shifting energy use to non-peak times, although it will work slightly differently.
Ovo wants customers to volunteer to cut their energy use between 4pm and 7pm to less than 12.5% of their total daily usage, instead of the 19% of power that is normally used in this three-hour slot. For every month this is achieved, Ovo customers get £20, up to a total of £100. The trial runs from November 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023.
Shifting demand to ease the strain on the grid is being explored by a number of parties currently after the National Grid's announcement. The plan will offer financial incentives for switching energy usage to off-peak hours. Named the 'demand flexibility service', it has been designed help ease the pressure on power networks as the nation prepares for a winter of supply challenges.
The money-back offer is to be implemented by energy suppliers and monitored using a smart meter, with a £10-a-day minimum reward being issued to those who prioritise off-peak electricity usage.
Jake Rigg, the National Grid ESO’s director of corporate affairs, said: "The demand flexibility service is a first of its kind and a smart way for signed-up consumers in homes and businesses to save money and back Britain. If you put your washing machine or other electrical appliances on at night instead of the peak in the early evening, you can get some money back when we all need it. The service is due to launch in November, so watch out for further details soon. This really is a window into the future where a flexible energy system will be cleaner and lower cost to alternatives."
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