Millions of households could be paid to use less electricity at peak times this winter under plans from the National Grid to reduce the risk of blackouts.
The company responsible for keeping the lights on is working urgently to establish a scheme to pay consumers with smart meters to ration their usage voluntarily when supplies are scarce.
It believes that this could be a cheaper and greener option than paying fossil fuel power plants to generate more electricity, as Russia restricts the gas supplies to Europe and stokes fears over security of supply.
The proposed scheme by National Grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) would reward households for shifting the time at which they carry out power-hungry activities such as cooking, using the washing machine or
