A number of energy companies will be giving their customers money back on their bills for reducing consumption at certain times this winter.
The National Grid announced an opt-in "Demand Flexibility Service" that will see households paid for off peak use. The trial, which will run from November until March of next year, could save the typical household £100 this winter.
Households need to have a smart meter to opt into the National Grid trial. It has been launched to preserve energy supplies and to reduce the risk of planned three-hour power cuts if there is a shortage of gas.
As reported by the Mirror, energy suppliers have launched similar schemes which will incentivise reduced consumption during peak hours.
Here is a full list of suppliers who will be offering credit or money-back on bills for energy reduction this winter.
Which energy suppliers are taking part?
OVO Energy: OVO Energy has announced a Power Move scheme which sees customers who cut their energy use by 12.5 percent between 4pm and 7pm getting £20 each month.
This is separate to the one being run by National Grid. The trial will run from November to March as well, meaning OVO households can also get up to £100.
Octopus Energy: Octopus Energy, which piloted the money-back scheme earlier this year, was the first supplier to officially sign up to the new National Grid initiative. Money will be paid as "OctoPoints" which you'll be able to redeem to your energy account as credit in pounds.
It expects to pay customers £4 on average during peak times between November and March through its Saving Sessions service.
Octopus says households could save £100 in total over winter, based on their electricity use being reduced by 1kWh once or twice a week, up to around 25 times.
British Gas: British Gas Customers are able to receive money back in a newly launched scheme, although the firm has not yet said how much money customers could save.
Households will have to reduce their electricity use by around 30 percent between 4pm and 7pm to get any sort of money back.
These figures are subject to change, as final details have yet to be published.
E.On Next: E.On Next said it has started writing to its customers this week, inviting them to sign up to the ESO scheme in which credit will be paid into their energy account.
It said households with smart meters will see savings of £100 - based on £3 per kWh - if they reduce their energy usage 29 times over winter.
Utilita Energy: Select Utilita Energy customers can save up to £76.44 for using energy at off-peak times under the firm's Power Payback scheme.
The Utilita trial lets customers get energy credits for avoiding or reducing energy usage during peak times this winter.
Each house taking part will get a text one hour before they need to try to use less power. There will be one period a week where this happens, normally between 5.30pm to 10.30pm on the day.
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