A MAJOR energy supplier is the latest to announce it will pay customers to use less energy this winter.
Households will be paid up to £100 to turn off their appliances during peak times to help prevent blackouts.
OVO Energy has announced today that it will be joining the National Grid's "demand flexibility service".
It is launching a new trial which rewards customers for shifting their energy usage away from peak times.
OVO says it will offer a competitive rewards system through its exclusive high demand day/time notifications.
Running from December 8 to March 31, 2023, the trial could see customers earning up to £100.
It will see three types of notification, two of which will be exclusive to OVO customers and the other will be the standard National Grid notification for those signed up.
They will be issued to participants via email at various times, encouraging them to shift their non-essential electricity usage outside of peak periods.
These exclusive notifications will alert participants of the days the grid is most likely to see demand, as well as the time of day.
Customers can make a minimum of £1 for every kWh shifted below their personal target - the more electricity shifted, the more the money they'll make.
Each month a credit bill will be shared with all the notification rewards collated.
An average home could earn around £50 in total, but it could be up to £100 depending on usage and participation in more events.
Initially, the scheme is open to 15,000 OVO customers, with this figure planned to increase after the first month.
Customers will need to opt-in to receiving email notifications by 11.59pm on that same day in order to be eligible for the reward the following day, and opt-ins after this time will not count.
Eligibility is based on:
- being an existing OVO Energy customer
- have a working electricity smart meter installed
- opt in to daily or half-hourly meter reads
- be supplied by OVO Energy throughout the trial
- not be part of the Power Move promotion
- not be registered for the Demand Flexibility Service with another provider
Those eligible will be invited to sign up via email.
Raman Bhatia, CEO of OVO, said: “We’re pleased to be joining the National Grid Electricity System Operator’s Demand Flexibility Scheme and launching another trial which rewards customers for their efforts in making small but significant changes to the way they consume energy.
"We know that winter is going to be a challenging time for many, so relieving that pressure where we can, and supporting our customers has never been more important.”
The trial is part of the national effort by energy providers to make the electricity grid more stable this winter.
The hope is that it will reduce the chances of needing nationwide energy blackouts, which were nearly activated today.
The National Grid was set to trigger an emergency blackout plan which would have involved asking Brits to turn off their appliances to avoid power cuts.
It comes after the National Grid cancelled a warning about Britain's electricity supply just six days ago.
The system which pays households to cut their usage at peak times has been tested twice since it was launched a month ago.
But suppliers don't have to take part in the scheme and so far only four have confirmed they are running the offer.
Exactly how much you can earn will also vary from supplier to supplier.
Among those taking part already are British Gas, EDF, EON and Octopus.
A spokesperson for British Gas confirmed to The Sun that it is working with the National Grid on what the offer to customers will look like.
EDF has now said it'll offer SOME customers the £100 grant but only those it invites personally.
While EON said it would be taking part in the Demand Flexibility Scheme and would be outlining details of the offer to customers soon.
Octopus Energy says its 1.4million customers on smart meters and 5,000 of its business customers can save £100 by signing up to the scheme.
The supplier has already said that more than 350,000 customers have signed up for its flexibility service called Saving Sessions.
For the full list of offers and details see here.
A number of suppliers have still not confirmed whether they will sign up for the demand flexibility scheme.
Bulb confirmed that it wouldn't be taking part.
Check with your supplier to see if they'll let you sign up for the scheme.