Households will be paid to cut their electricity use again tonight under a scheme by the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) called the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS).
The scheme was launched in November last year as a way of saving energy supplies when national demand is at its highest and it was activated for the first time on Monday January 23.
Tonight, the scheme will run between 4.30pm and 6pm and those taking part are asked to reduce their electricity consumption as much as they can during this 90 minute period.
The National Grid ESO confirmed to Mirror Money that the amount of electricity that a household saves on the day is compared to that individual household's average amount normally rather than an average of a larger group of households.
Before the event, households that are signed up for the scheme provide their energy supplier with 60 days' worth of data from their smart meter.
This data is then analysed and 10 days where energy use for the household is most similar is used to work out the average electricity consumption for the home during the hours of the event.
The energy company will use this rate to compare the event data collected to work out how much a person can make for reducing their energy consumption during the event window.
The scheme is run by individual energy suppliers, 26 are currently taking part, and the amount you can earn by reducing your electricity tonight will vary between different households.
The National Grid ESO has previously said it expects to pay suppliers the equivalent of £3 per unit (kWh) saved.
Some suppliers say you need to reach a certain threshold, for example by cutting back by at least 30%, but others say they will pay anyone who makes savings, however small.
Octopus Energy said it was to pay £3.37 for every kWh you save while EDF Energy will pay £3.
Households are told they can do this by not using "power-hungry" appliances such as washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, electric showers and immersion heaters.
By avoiding these appliances you could be paid a fair bit from your supplier.
If you usually run a 2.5kw tumble dryer load for an hour tonight, then Octopus Energy would pay you more than £8 by delaying that load until later in the evening.
If you boil a whole kettle during the hour-and-a-half event tonight, you will only use a fraction of a kilowatt hour.
If you decide to not make a hot drink during this timeframe, you could be paid between 20p and 40p, depending on how much water you usually heat, the power of your kettle, and how big a reward your supplier is paying out.
The National Grid ESO says heavy electricity users could earn as much as £20 back by cutting back and some could earn up to £100 over the course of 12 Demand Flexibility Service events.
The National Grid has reiterated that the scheme is all about reducing your energy use where you can and they are not asking people to "go without electricity".
