£1m paid out to Octopus Energy customers as part of the Energy Savings Scheme | energy bills

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More than £1 million was paid to power customers with Octopus Energy on Tuesday as part of the Energy Savings Scheme.

The energy supplier said more than 400,000 customers had taken part by reducing their electricity use between 4.30pm and 6pm.

The national grid’s demand elasticity scheme kicked off for the first time on Monday amid cooler temperatures, meaning more energy is being used while less is being generated by wind power.

There was also uncertainty about how much power Britain could import via submarine cables from Europe.

Coal-fired power stations in North Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire were put on standby in case they ran out of supplies, but were later stopped.

There were concerns that the combination of weather conditions, demand and generation issues could lead to power outages.

Octopus, British Gas, EDF and E.ON are participating in the scheme. It is only available to households with smart meters.

Regular customer was paid £2.50 in points to reduce their usage by an average of 60%. The top 5% were paid £15 in points. An Octopus deal can see points converted into cash, “prizes” or donated to a fund for customers in need.

And the company revealed that more energy was saved on Tuesday, when payments were larger, than on Monday. Less than £1m was paid out on Monday.

Energy companies have advised customers they can delay cooking their evening meal, or put in large loads of laundry – as cookers and washing machines can consume a lot of electricity.

The total amount of energy saved was about 250 MWh (megawatt hours) nationwide, about the same as the off-grid city of Liverpool for an hour, according to PA Media.

After working for two days, the scheme did not activate for Wednesday. There have been trials before using it properly for the first time this week. The national network said it will run until March 2023.

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