Emergency energy plan for Tuesday postponed

National Grid has decided not to activate a scheme on Tuesday to help the UK avoid power cuts after being poised to do so.

It would have seen some households offered discounts on their electricity bills if they cut peak-time use.

The move followed a warning that Britain’s energy supplies were looking tighter than usual this week.

Alerts are sent out automatically when expected supplies drop below a certain level.

But they do not mean that blackouts are likely, or that the situation is critical.

National Grid said it was “confident” it would be able to “manage margins and demand is not at risk”.

It said two alerts had been issued and then cancelled on Monday, after forecasts projected a large drop in the amount of power that Britain will be able to import from France.

Such warnings are not unusual – around 12 have been issued and cancelled without issue in the last six years.

However, they have become more common this year due to the energy crisis, and the most recent notice was sent out last week.

In response, National Grid said earlier on Monday that it was considering whether to pay households across Britain to reduce their energy use to help out on Tuesday evening.

Under its Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), announced earlier this month, customers that have signed up could get discounts on their bills if they use less electricity in a given window of time.

In homes, that could mean delaying the use of a tumble-dryer or washing machine, or cooking dinner in the microwave rather than the oven.

A number of major suppliers are taking part, including Octopus and British Gas, but only customers that have an electricity smart meter can take part.

Around 14 million UK homes have an electricity smart meter.

The DFS has already been tested twice but has not yet run live.

Forecasts have projected that Britain’s grid will struggle to rely on electricity generated by French nuclear power stations on Monday and Tuesday evening.

The lack of strong winds to power turbines has also affected how much power can be generated within the UK.