Britain’s biggest energy supplier has offered more than 150,000 of its customers half-price power on Sunday.
The trial, launched by British Gas, is designed to encourage consumers to switch to using energy at “off-peak” times when national demand is low.
The company said it would refund 50 per cent of the unit rate for any electricity the customers used between 11am and 4pm, and would monitor whether the incentive of cheaper energy was enough to make families rethink their habits.
The energy supplier will be running a number of trials to build on the success of PeakSave, and is urging customers to sign up if they want to take part in the pilot.
The PeakSave scheme was initiated last winter to enable customers to access National Grid rewards for cutting use at selected times, as coal plants were set on standby in case the electricity supply fell too low.
The Demand Flexibility service was launched by National Grid’s Electricity System Operator to help reduce peak demand when the supply is tighter than usual.
Several energy companies took part in the National Grid trial, in which certain UK households and businesses were paid to reduce their electricity use.
The trial ran between 1 December last year and 31 March, and now British Gas is expanding on the experiment by launching new products designed to explore the potential to save on bills and shift demand.
Customers interested in signing up to the new trial schemes can apply here.
British Gas will issue a bill credit within seven working days of participating in the session. It is free to take part, and there is no impact on tariffs or normal energy payments.
A British Gas spokesperson said: “Over 200,000 customers signed up to the first PeakSave trial, providing us with invaluable insights on how we can manage consumption to support a greener grid, while also helping our customers to make significant savings.
“Following the success of the scheme this winter, we are now the first supplier looking at other ways we can help manage demand.
“We will be contacting customers to let them know they have the option to get half-price electricity from 11am to 4pm this Sunday, and will soon be taking registrations to sign up more customers to upcoming trials.”
