Households switch energy habits and save the hourly output of a gas plant

Almost 200,000 Octopus Energy customers slashed their energy usage in the first trial of the company’s energy saving scheme

Smart meters

More than 200,000 customers of Octopus Energy have managed to optimise their energy usage, saving energy and earning money.

Publishing the findings one month after the launch of its energy reduction scheme, Octopus Energy said more than 200,000 households reduced their energy demand by 108MW collectively.

This is equivalent to the output of a gas power station in an hour, the company said.

The scheme allows households to get paid for shifting their energy usage out of peak times.

The first test session of the scheme was conducted between 5-6pm on the 15th November – the average customer managed to reduce their energy usage by well over half of their regular usage during that time period.

Typical bill payers received well over £1 for just one hour’s shift, Octopus said.

The energy supplier added that if the programme was scaled up to all electric smart meter customers in the UK, the resulting flexible energy load would be more than 1GW, almost as much as powering up one of the UK’s coal-fired power stations.

Alex Schoch, Head of Flexibility at Octopus Energy Group, commented: “Giving consumers the chance to grab a bargain is a win-win: cleaning up the grid, cutting costs and delivering greater energy security.”

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