National Grid offering £100 energy discounts to avoid blackouts 

The move is designed to prevent blackouts and will be tested on 12 days between November and March. 

Customers will be warned 24 hours prior to the tests and will be required to amend their times for doing laundry, cooking dinner and bathing.  

The scheme will only be available to homes with smart meters, 14 million UK homes already have a smart metre installed.  

Suppliers will decide how much customers will receive, as well as the form that the savings will take, be that taking money off bills directly or depositing it directly into accounts.  

This comes as the National Grid warns that UK households could face daily blackouts this winter, amongst soaring energy bills. 

This scheme has been titled the Demand Flexibility Service by the National Grid. The scheme is being testing at scale for the first time. 

Jake Rigg, director of corporate affairs at National Grid ESO, told the BBC: "It’s not a big thing or a difficult thing to do, just remembering to do it 12 times this winter and get that money back, when we are all really struggling with energy bills and the cost of living generally. 

"We can all do our little bit; we can shift demand out of that peak and help maintain security of supply throughout the winter. 

"Nearly a third of a million households have signed up for a programme to help them save on their energy and reduce the risk of power cuts this winter."