Octopus Energy and Ovo customers could get around £100 over the winter for using energy outside of peak hours.
The two energy firms are launching schemes to help the UK avoid blackouts during the coldest months.
The idea is that rewarding people for using less energy at peak times will reduce the small chance of power cuts.
Households face planned power cuts because the Russian war on Ukraine has led to a shortage of gas.
Octopus' scheme is called Saving Sessions, and lets its 1.4million smart meter customers cut energy use during peak times and get paid to do so.
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.
Customers will be emailed or texted a time slot in advance if power cuts become likely.
If they cut their energy use during that window they will get money back.
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.
The scheme will run 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.”
Octopus customers with a smart meter can sign up here.
Octopus ran a trial scheme to test the idea in February and March this year - with 100,000 people signing up.
Households on average used 0.7kWh less energy during that window, saving between 23p and £4.35.
Ovo is also running a similar trial called Power Move.
The trial will reward customers up to £100 for shifting energy use to non-peak times.
Ovo wants customers to volunteer to cut their energy use between 4pm and 7pm to less than 12.5%.
The energy firm said 19% of power 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 and is separate to the new "Demand Flexibility Service" being launched by the National Grid.
Ovo will be contacting customers to apply from mid October.
Ovo chief exeutive Raman Bhatia 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.”
