How much could YOU earn for turning off your oven and TV? How families could be PAID up to £6 to ‘ration’ electricity at peak times (including nearly £3 for shutting off electric car chargers)
- The measures come amid spiraling energy costs made worse by war in Ukraine
- Households with smart meters could be paid £6 per kilowatt-hour not used
- The National Grid is looking at expanding the measure which is now under trial
Hard-pressed British families can save as much as £6 by turning off key appliances for two hours in the evening – and could be paid to do so under plans being considered by the National Grid.
Consumers with smart meters will be offered the payment to slash their usage during peak times in the winter and try and cut the risk of nationwide blackouts.
National Grid sees the plans as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way to keep the lights on than paying fossil fuel power plants to increase production.
The firm responsible for transmitting and distributing electricity and gas is scrambling to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has led to Russia restricting energy supplies to Europe.
The proposals could see households paid up to £6 for each kilowatt-hour they avoid using at peak times. That compares with the 28.34p homes pay per kilowatt-hour, enough to power a 100 watt lightbulb for ten hours.
National Grid ESO trialled the proposals with Octopus Energy customers this year and is now looking to offer the scheme to millions of households.
MailOnline has analysed the cost of running some key household appliances for two hours during the periods that were trialled – 00:00-02:00, 09:00-11:00 and 16:30-18:30.
This includes an 84p bill for using the oven, 54p to power the dishwasher and 84p to use the washing machine.
Meanwhile, two hours of TV is worth 6p, a fan heater costs £1 and using an electric car charger sets customers back a whopping £2.81.
TV – 6p
Dishwasher – 54p
Washing machine – 84p
Electric car charger – £2.81
Oven – 84p
Fan heater – £1.00
Families are struggling with energy bills that have jumped by 54 per cent (an average of £693) this year.
They are set to jump a further £800, to an average of £2,800 a year, when energy regulator Ofgem raises the price cap in October.
National Grid ESO trialled the proposals with Octopus Energy customers this year and is now looking to offer the scheme to millions of households.
It is believed to have written to suppliers last week asking them to assess how much less energy their customers could be persuaded to use at peak times.
The cost of the scheme would be added onto energy bills but the National Grid is said to believe the additional charge would be less than the cost of paying power plants to increase supply.
Ministers were warned last month six million households could experience blackouts this winter because of the war in Ukraine.
The Government’s ‘reasonable’ worst case scenario, drawn up by Whitehall, shows there may be significant gas shortages if Russia cuts off Europe’s supplies.
Whitehall’s worst-case scenario modelling says Britain would have to implement its gas emergency plans, which would see gas-fired power stations closed.
This would lead to a shortage of electricity that could force the Government to ration it in a manner similar to Edward Heath’s three-day week in the 1970s.
Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus Energy Group, said: ‘In the past, fleets of diesel generators got paid a fortune at times of high electricity demand – with the cost landing on everyone’s bills.
‘We’d rather give customers discounts if they use less power at these times, rather than swelling bills to pay polluters.
‘It’s the energy equivalent of discounting leftover food in a supermarket to reduce food waste.’
An ESO spokesperson said: ‘Demand shifting has the potential to save consumers money, reduce carbon emissions and offer greater flexibility on the system and some forms of demand management are already used today to help balance the system.
‘We recently ran a few small successful trials with Octopus to see what can be achieved from an aggregated consumer demand response and there’s now more work to do with industry to consider how we can roll out the service.
‘Innovation that drives consumers value and reduces carbon emissions will always be deployed as swiftly as possible, in a tested, safe and reliable way.’
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