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.
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“We’re really pleased with the take-up. It will continue to grow as we move through the winter,” Mr Pettigrew told the PA news agency.
While National Grid will run the project, it will be up to individual energy suppliers to sign up to the scheme so their customers can benefit. Here's what all the big suppliers are saying about the scheme so far.
Octopus Energy
Octopus Energy has confirmed it will be rolling out a scheme called Saving Sessions which will allow customers to save around £100 throughout the winter period. In order for customers to be eligible they must first have a smart meter fitted into their homes.
Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy Group, comments: “Let’s be very clear: this is a historic moment – we’re entering a new era of energy in which households are moving from passive offtakers to active enablers of a smarter, greener and cheaper grid.
“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.”
Customers can sign up for the scheme here.
British Gas
British Gas already announced that it supports the Demand Flexibility Scheme and has confirmed that it's working with the National Grid. However, before completely rolling out the scheme they want to trial something else initially where customers will be rewarded for reducing their usage during peak times.
A British Gas spokesperson said: "By encouraging consumers to reduce their usage at peak times we can balance demand on the grid whilst helping consumers save on their energy bills. We are working on how this scheme can work best for our customers and fit in with their habits around the home.
"We will be running a trial first to learn from before using our scale to roll out to our wider customer base."
British Gas also confirmed that customers will need to have a smart meter in their homes to take part in the scheme.
EDF
EDF has confirmed that it will take part in trialling the Demand Flexibility Service. According to the company's website, it will select a small group of customers based on data and advice from National Grid.
The supplier will send invites to this group of customers by email in late November, while also providing information on everything they need to do. Customers must wait for an invite from the supplier and cannot sign up online or over the phone.
E.ON
E.ON customers will be able to take part in the initiative from this month. In order to participate, the supplier will contact eligible customers to see if they want to take part.
One criterion for eligibility is that customers have a smart meter that provides half-hourly meter readings so that the supplier can accurately measure reductions in daily energy use.
An E.ON spokesperson said: “E.ON Next is taking part in the National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Service to help our customers lower their energy costs by reducing their energy consumption. We’re inviting eligible customers to sign up so that they can join in and save when the Grid sets Demand Flexibility events.
“The future of energy involves every customer – at home and in business – having their own smart, sustainable and personalised energy solutions that support their everyday lives. Time of use tariffs can be used alongside low carbon technologies such as solar panels, EV charge points and heat pumps to ensure we can move to net-zero at a lower cost by reducing the need for ever more upstream generation and reinforcement of our networks.”
OVO
OVO has confirmed that it is not signing up the National Grid's scheme. However, it launched its own Power Move scheme last month.
OVO's scheme follows a similar initiative by encouraging customers to cut energy usage during peak times while saving money. The trial will reward customers up to £100 in total for moving non-essential energy usage times when the grid is being less used.
The trial will run from November 1 2022 to March 31 2023 and customers will be contacted to apply if they have not been so already. Raman Bhatia, CEO of OVO, said: “The UK energy sector is at a crucial point, and we need a resilient grid to get us through this winter.
“This trial provides essential consumer data which can be shared with the Government and the National Grid to prevent power shortages, and will give customers a deeper insight into their energy consumption habits, with great potential savings.”
Scottish Power
Scottish Power has not yet confirmed if it will take part in the scheme. However, it has confirmed that it is currently exploring customer-incentive options with the company.
A Scottish Power spokesperson said: "We’re supportive of the scheme and are continuing to engage with National Grid on how customers can benefit from the advantages a smart home can bring.”
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