Proactive Investors - National Grid PLC (LON:NG)’s system operating wing (ESO) has said more households are taking part in schemes offering rewards to those reducing energy consumption than last year.
Some 2.2 million households have got involved in this year’s demand flexibility service so far, earning a combined £9.3 million through various rewards, the ESO said on Thursday.
This is up on the 1.6 million households which took part over the whole of last winter.
A combined 2.5 gigawatts of energy has been saved through six test and two live demand flexibility events since November meanwhile, equalling enough to power over a quarter of Great Britain’s homes for a one hour period.
“The demand flexibility service continues to grow from strength to strength,” ESO markets director Claire Dykta commented.
“Households and businesses up and down the country are demonstrating their continued interest and commitment to electricity flexibility and are reaping the rewards.”
Smart meter customers of participating suppliers, including British Gas, EDF (EPA:EDF) and Octopus, can take part in the events and are offered the likes of money off bills to shift energy consumption at certain times.
Octopus paid £5.3 million to the near-700,000 of its customers that took part last year, for instance, accounting for roughly half of the required demand shift.
British Gas shared out £1.8 million to 200,000 households meanwhile, with the Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) subsidiary opening up the scheme to more customers, including those on smart prepayment meters, this week.
National Grid’s ESO introduced the scheme in the winter of 2022 as a way to encourage households to reduce energy usage at times of tight supply and demand margins.
The service has been used twice so far this winter in real tight-margin scenarios, the ESO added, on 29 November 29 and December 1, with the scheme window due to end in March.