Utilita Energy, the UK’s only energy supplier created to help households use less energy, has enlisted a further 6,000 Smart+ PAYG households into its hugely popular Power Payback™ programme, which enables customers to receive energy credits in exchange for avoiding or reducing energy usage during peak times.

The latest event took place last night, on Shrove Tuesday from 17:30-18:30, where 4,573 of Utilita’s Smart PAYG households avoided or reduced their energy usage during this time. On average, the sessions saw participating households receive £1.20 each, covering the cost of making and cooking six pancakes. Utilta, with support from chef Jamie Oliver, gave every household access to a pancake-ulator, which reveals the exact ingredients and cost to cook each pancake, to help households budget for the event. Try it out here: https://utilita.co.uk/campaigns/iceland.

As a result of the positive feedback from the 1,428 households that took part in the trial in November 2022, Utilita has now officially joined the National Grid Demand Flexibility Service, and is broadening access to the money-saving scheme to a further 6,000 customers, with the ambition of inviting all customers to take part ahead of this winter.

The initial month-long trial was extremely successful, seeing 1,428 households participating in one Power Payback™ event each week. By avoiding electricity usage during the Payback events, each household received an average of £1.50 each time.

How Power Payback™ works

The cost of wholesale energy fluctuates based on supply and demand. The more energy households need, the higher the price. In the winter months households use much more energy which increases volatility across the wholesale energy market. The peaks and troughs in the cost of energy creates an opportunity for suppliers to guide households’ usage behaviours and pass on the savings.

Power Payback is Utilita’s customer-facing service that supports the National Grid – where all energy comes from – to avoid purchasing expensive energy generated by non-green sources.

Utilita is the first company to offer access to this type of saving feature to its PAYG customers.

Power Payback™ Savings

According to usage data, Utilita customers have the potential to earn £63.5m in Power Payback™ – or £105.75 per household – by avoiding energy usage during peak times. These savings could also be increased by following the bespoke energy efficiency advice available on Utilita’s Smart Score app feature, which helps households to save up to a fifth on their energy usage.

George Walters, Utilita’s Chief Home Services Officer is responsible for hundreds of new energy-saving and service innovations that Utilita launches each year – he comments on the trial:

“From day one we have seen an overwhelming response from customers wanting to take part – we were immediately over-subscribed by over 50 percent. This initial month-long trial in November enabled us to confirm positive participation rates among our customer base, which has resulted in Utilita enrolling into the National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Service.”

“The fact that 95% of our PAYG customer base are Smart+ enabled means these households have a positive relationship with their energy usage, which is achieved through better visibility and usage intel. They are attuned to what they are using and when, making tweaking their behaviours even easier, especially when they can see the rewards for doing so.”

Archie Lasseter, Utilita’s Head of Sustainability is responsible for getting Utilita – both as a business and its customer base – to net zero by 2030. He shares his views:

“Power Payback and the National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Service are a great way to encourage households to consider and tweak their behaviour to help the grid avoid such large energy demand peaks in the evenings, when most people get home and start making dinner.

“By balancing out the demand over the evening period, our country can completely avoid burning harmful and expensive fossil fuels – namely coal – which are currently used as a last resort when the energy grid needs topping up to meet demand. By taking part in these excellent programmes, households become more aware of their energy usage generally, are rewarded financially, but most importantly they are helping to reduce greenhouse gases which cause the devastating effects of global warming.”

Donna Bosworth, a Smart+ PAYG customer taking part in Power Payback comments on her experience:

“I quickly accept every invite I receive to take part in a Power Payback event, because for me it’s nothing but positive – there are so many benefits for us. On average we get paid £4 per event, so last night’s session covered the cost of 20 plus pancakes, but we didn’t eat that many!

“I am savvy when it comes to energy savings, but taking part in the first event made me realise how many electrical items and lights were switched on unnecessarily – it was the start of improved energy awareness for our family. Knowing we are getting paid to be more mindful, and helping the country to avoid burning fossil fuels is really rewarding on many levels.

“As a family, we made a pact to take advantage of the Power Payback events to ditch our screens and enjoy each other’s company. We now play board games and do more together – even if there’s no event!”

*On average, the cost to make and cook a pancake based on the current price of ingredients and energy is £0.20p.