British Gas customers can earn £3 per kilowatt by cutting electricity use between the peak hours of 5-6pm tonight as part of its latest energy saving test event.
More than 400,000 British Gas billpayers signed up to its PeakSave scheme are invited to take part in the latest ESO Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) test event tonight on Thursday 14 December.
As long as you have a smart meter, are signed up to PeakSave, pay by direct debit and you opt in to take part, British Gas said it will pay customers £3 per kWh saved at this event – 100% of the money it is paid by National Grid.
Exactly how much you’ll earn in bill credit depends on how much energy you’ll save based on your typical use during 5-6pm but the goal is to use 30% less energy than normal.
Demand Flexibility Service
The National Grid electricity system operator (ESO) launched the DFS for the winter period 2022 – and it’s back again for this winter.
The scheme rewards households and businesses that shift their electricity use during DFS events. More than 1.6 million households and businesses participated in the scheme last winter.
The ESO has already run live events this winter, but tonight is a “test event”. A live event is called when the DFS is needed in real-time to help manage the network during peak times. Test events are held throughout winter to keep engagement up for the DFS. Either way, customers cutting back on their typical energy use can earn rewards.
Households don’t need to turn off all their electricity during test or live event periods, but instead reduce usage by not using appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, and electric ovens, and not charging devices such as smartphones, laptops or electric cars.
British Gas PeakSave
PeakSave encourages households to switch the bulk of their energy use to quieter times in the week. For example, users can receive 50% off all electricity between 11am and 4pm every Sunday, including Christmas Day, as part of PeakSave Sundays.
Customers have until 17 December to sign up for half price electricity on Christmas Day this year.
Typically, there is a greater amount of renewables available in the UK’s energy system on a Sunday because of lower demand from business and industry, which reduces the requirement for energy generated by fossil fuels.
British Gas said more than 425,000 customers taking part in PeakSave Sundays have been paid £2.5m so far for moving their activities to non-peak times and they have also contributed to a greener grid with almost 60 tonnes of carbon emissions saved.
