As the cost of living crisis continues to have damaging impacts to millions of people every day, there is a new way to have a bit of extra cash in your pocket.
A number of UK energy providers will start paying customers up to £100 this winter to do their washing at night.
Households will have the chance to earn some money if they switch off their appliances during peak times, with the National Grid warning of possible blackouts this winter.
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Earlier this month, the National Grid, which is responsible for the supply of gas and electricity in the UK, warned of blackouts between 4pm and 7pm in the coming months.
The National Grid chief executive John Pettigrew said the company would struggle to get enough gas from mainland Europe to meet the demand of the British public, meaning blackouts could occur on ‘those darkest evenings in January and February’.
To try and avoid the chaos blackouts would bring, the National Grid has launched the Demand Flexibility Scheme, which will start next month and roll into March 2023.
Households are encouraged to sign up with their energy supplier to claim money back on their bills.
Many energy providers have already announced their intentions to join the scheme.
British Gas has confirmed it will be signing up to and hopes to be in a place where they can offer customers a financial benefit later this year.
EON has also confirmed its intentions, alongside Octopus Energy, who say 1.4 million of its customers can save £100 by singing up.
On average, Octopus customers will be paid £4 per kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy they save compared to their normal usage.
Customers who sign up to the scheme will be sent a text informing them of when they should use less electricity between certain hours - what's even more handy is that you will be paid later that day.
OVO Energy has also announced they are trialing a scheme where customers will be asked to reduce their energy consumption between 4pm and 7pm.
If customers reduce their consumption to less than 12.5 percent in those selected hours between November and March, they will be awarded with £20 a month - £100 total during the scheme.
Unfortunately, however, there is a bit of a catch for all households looking to take part in the scheme.
Only people who have a working smart meter will be able to sign up, leaving millions in the UK unable to take advantage of the cash benefits.
Consumer rights specialist Martyn James told The Sun: “It’s deeply unfair that people who can’t get smart meters, despite trying, will lose out on these savings during the most challenging period for energy bills.”
Callum Jones