The energy firm claims that in one month alone, customers could collectively save £15m by using energy at times when the grid is greener.

With Power Move, Ovo customers will be rewarded £10 per month for reducing electricity consumption to 12.5% of their daily usage, between 4 and 7pm each day.

This reduction is roughly equivalent to an average household moving one of the following activities from peak to off-peak:

• Cooking one meal in the oven for an hour, per week
• Three dishwasher loads per week
• Four loads of washing per week

How much customers can save with Power Move will be adjusted each season, based on the time of year and average consumption rates, to maximise rewards for customers.

Ovo trialled Power Move over the winter and paid customers almost £150,000 for shifting 164,179 kWh out of peak time. The trial also delivered carbon savings of 22.3 tonnes by moving energy usage to times of day when the grid is greener.

Data from OVO shows that demand on the energy grid is highest between 4pm and 7pm each day, when households use a fifth (19%) of their daily total usage. At these times of peak demand, there’s often not enough renewable energy to go around, meaning dirtier, carbon-heavy power fires up to fill the gap.

Mat Moakes, Ovo Energy chief commercial officer, said: “Changing what time of day you put the washing machine on might seem small, but our Power Move trials showed these small acts can make a massive impact. That’s why we’re paying customers to move their energy use out of peak times, to times of day when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. This is all part of our commitment to help make our customers’ homes, as well as the energy system, greener.”