US Edition
Picture the scene: you’re watching Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One, and a pop star you’re not the biggest fan of is about to sing their latest release. Great time for a cup of tea, right?
Well, you wouldn’t be the only one. In fact, Britain’s hive-minded attitude to tea drinking places enormous strain on the National Grid, as millions of kettles switch on at once. Sometimes emergency supplies have to be called in from France to meet the spike in demand.
As Britain moves towards a future where households rely more and more on electricity, with home heating and driving being added to demand, pressure on the grid will only become greater.
This is why the Electricity System Operator (ESO), which is responsible for moving electricity through the system, has started rewarding households for reducing the electricity they use when, for instance, millions of us would usually put the kettle on.
The scheme is known as the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), and it is returning for the 2023-24 winter. Here, Telegraph Money outlines the basics of the scheme, how you can take part and how much you can save by doing so.
What is the Demand Flexibility Service?
The Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) is a voluntary scheme whereby households can earn rewards by shifting their electricity use to outside peak hours.
This could mean opting to run your washing machine during the day, rather than when you finish work, or waiting to run the dishwasher in the morning rather than just after dinner.
Doing this makes it easier for the grid to manage supply during busy periods when margins are tight.
Last winter, the scheme was opened to households and businesses with smart meters – and roughly 1.6 million participated.
The scheme is only activated at times when the grid anticipates higher-than-average usage – such as when there’s a cold snap, and more people are likely to fire up the heating.
But to ensure participating households are still rewarded for signing up, the ESO will still run 12 tests of the DFS between November 2023 and March 2024.
Why was the scheme introduced?
When demand on the grid is high, the ESO is forced to turn to emergency generators to meet the needs of households and businesses. The electricity costs more at peak times because National Grid works harder to provide it.
Such periods typically occur in the winter months, when more households use electric lighting and heating, boil kettles, and run washing machines – usually between 5pm and 8pm when most adults finish work.
However, the emergency generators fired up in such times are also typically reliant on gas, which runs counter to the Government’s wider drive towards green energy.
By encouraging households to shift the demand for energy away from peak times, it is hoped the grid will move away from the more polluting fossil fuel generators, which would in theory save consumers money in the long run.
How does it work?
The reason the DFS requires households to have a smart meter is that your provider needs to know how much energy you typically use at peak times, so that when the scheme is active it can work out how much you have reduced your electricity use.
During the times when the scheme is active, the aim is simple: use as little electricity as possible. As mentioned above, for most households, this will involve not using the washing machine or avoiding a shower if yours is electric.
E.ON Next’s website suggests turning off unnecessary lights, as lighting accounts for 5pc of the average household’s energy usage. If applicable, it’s also recommended that you avoid charging EVs and turn down your heat pump by a few degrees.
Which providers are taking part?
After last year’s successful trial in which only a handful of providers were involved, many more British energy companies are offering the chance for households to sign up. You must have a smart meter to participate, however.
Providers typically contact customers via email with an initial invitation to sign up. Their versions of the scheme will all have their own names (such as Octopus Energy’s Saving Sessions) and quirks (Shell Energy, for instance, offers customers the option to enter a prize draw for Amazon vouchers and other gift cards).
If you have a smart meter and your provider is registered with the DFS, have a search through your inbox to see if you can find a sign-up link.
How much money could I save?
Before you rush to switch off every electrical appliance in your home thinking you will save a fortune, it’s worth keeping in mind that the pounds and pence figures for individual events are rather meagre at first blush.
One OVO customer, Graham Felton, said he had saved £7 from the first DFS event in November. However, Mr Felton said over the past year he had saved £140 through the scheme, “which is a good saving for a very small behaviour change that didn’t inconvenience me at all”.
Though some families have taken the opportunity to cut out electricity almost completely, for the most part, the scheme is not overly difficult to partake in – and you can still put your washing on overnight when electricity demand is lower.
Households earn a certain amount of money for every kilowatt hour of electricity they “shift”, so credit is doled out depending on the difference between your typical usage in peak times, and what you use when the scheme is active.
The rate can vary on the day, but most providers offer around £3 per kWh shifted. EDF, which offers this rate, says households that delay using their washing machines and tumble dryers while the scheme is active would save up to £7.20 and £5.63 respectively by doing so.
An outlier in this regard is British Gas, which promises £5 for every kWh saved. The provider also offers half-price electricity on Sundays between the hours of 11am and 4pm to customers who signed up for its PeakSave scheme, British Gas’s version of the DFS.
Are you making use of the Demand Flexibility Service this winter? Have you already saved lots of money? Email tom.haynes@telegraph.co.uk