Households could be paid to turn down heating

Image source, Getty Images

UK households could be paid to turn down their heating this winter under plans to prevent gas supply issues.

National Gas, which runs the UK's main gas network, is mulling the idea after homes got discounts for using less electricity under a separate scheme.

It told the BBC there was "no threat to domestic supplies" but it was ready to take action if they became strained.

Meanwhile, the electricity discount scheme is set to run again, the grid operator has confirmed

National Grid's Electricity Systems Operator (ESO), which balances supply and demand on the network, said it would be open to more people this winter, although the chances of blackouts were lower than last year.

Under National Gas's plans, which are only provisional at this stage, households could volunteer to use less gas at peak times such as the early evening and potentially receive a discount on their bills.

Speaking about the UK's gas readiness, National Gas boss John Butterworth told the BBC: "Last winter you had the tragic invasion of Ukraine, which caught out the whole of Europe from an energy perspective.

"This winter Europe has filled its strategic storage... and it's the same in the UK."

However, he said there was still a "scenario" in which exceptionally cold weather across Europe might leave the UK struggling to import gas it needs from the continent.

In that case, he said, National Gas knew "exactly what to do" and was ready to take action.

Image source, Getty Images

The National Grid ran a similar scheme last year to prevent electricity supply problems

The Ukraine war disrupted European gas supplies last year, driving up prices and raising fears of power cuts as gas-fired power stations came under pressure.

In response the UK, which imports about half of its gas from mainland Europe, kept coal-fired power stations on standby and launched a scheme that paid customers who reduced their electricity use at peak times.

Many suppliers adopted the Demand Flexibility Service, offering their customers discounts or cash payments for switching off high-energy appliances on days when supplies were tight.

On Thursday, National Grid's ESO said the scheme was less likely to be needed this winter as there had been a "big uptick" in overall capacity and the "stress events" from last year had faded.

However, it said the service would run again and could operate on a much larger scale this time.

Many businesses, including food wholesalers and water companies, had already enquired about taking part this year after seeing the scheme work in their own homes, it said.

This winter the scheme could provide up to a gigawatt of demand flexibility if needed, it said.

Last winter 3,300 megawatt hours (MWh) were saved across 22 events, "enough to power nearly 10 million homes", the ESO said.

Payments were likely to be at a similar level to last year's £3,000 per MWh, it said, but how much would be passed on to customers and in what form - whether as cash payments, vouchers or even in the form of a prize lottery - was at suppliers' discretion.

National Grid ESO is the electricity system operator for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has a separate electricity operator.

Here are some energy saving ideas from environmental scientist Angela Terry, who set up One Home, a social enterprise that shares green, money-saving tips: