British households could soon be advised to use their appliances during certain times and ration their energy consumption this winter.

Speaking to the BBC’s World At One programme and asked whether the UK faces the risk of blackouts, Kathryn Porter, from energy consultancy Watt-Logic said: “I think there has been an expectation among industrial users and I have been hearing this from clients since March that they expect to be rationed through this winter.

“There could also be measures taken to request households to reduce their demand. There are similar schemes in California and Texas, where the authorities are asking consumers to reduce their use of electricity during certain hours and giving advice on how that can be done. It is possible.

“We will see something similar here this winter.”

A few days ago, Liz Truss promised no energy rationing if she became the next Prime Minister while Rishi Sunak said “we shouldn’t rule anything out”.

Ms Porter added that there might be a request for Britons to have their dinner earlier or later and avoid using large appliances like washing machines during peak hours.

She said: “Those types of measures I think would be voluntary rather than compulsory.”