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As residents of the United Kingdom deal with a late January cold snap, British utility company National Grid is asking for help with saving energy. The company asked its customers to participate in its Demand Flexibility Service from 5:00-6:00 p.m. Monday night.
The service rewards people, usually via money off their bills, for turning off appliances such as ovens and dishwashers during a specific period when electricity demand is high. It was launched late last year amid concerns over the potential of rolling blackouts, with Monday serving as the first time it has officially been implemented. More than a million households and business are signed up to the service.
“If we can reduce demand by rewarding participating customers to turn down when we need them to, it means we might not have to bring on expensive and polluting fossil fuel generators,” according to the National Grid website. “This saves carbon and also saves all consumers money. And in times of system stress, when margins are tight, it could also help us avoid an emergency response.”
In addition to asking UK residents to save energy during the cold snap, National Grid had also asked that coal-fired power plants be fired up to serve as back up power. That request was eventually taken back. A spokesman for National Grid told Reuters the supply picture had improved since it issued the notice.
Below freezing temperatures have been recorded across much of the UK in recent days. The country’s national weather service issued severe weather warnings for snow and ice last week.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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