North East's equiwatt to support the return of National Grid’s energy reduction scheme

Equiwatt, the North East-based energy management company, has committed to again support National Grid as an independent aggregator of its Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), which pays people to reduce their electricity usage during peak times and is proposed to return next winter.

National Grid is preparing to run the scheme for a second time this autumn as its looks to prevent pressure on the UK’s energy supplies by having to turn to carbon-emitting power plants to provide additional power to homes. It is expected that industry regulator OFGEM will approve the energy-saving scheme in the summer.

The scheme paid out millions of pounds to households through a small number of energy suppliers and independent providers including equiwatt. Households who miss out with their suppliers or have not yet joined a scheme, can access these National Grid DFS incentives with equiwatt via its free app.

Equiwatt, which is on the National Grid’s approved list of DFS providers, is independent of energy suppliers and used its app-based energy management platform to make earning rewards for saving peak time energy easy and accessible to households. Any household with a compatible smart meter can take part in their DFS events.

Equiwatt has also been consulting with National Grid on the effectiveness of the first Demand Flexibility Service, which uses smart meter data to measure the reduction in usage and passes on rewards to customers. Incentives include points to redeem against Amazon, Asda and John Lewis vouchers, donating to charity and planting trees with the World Land Trust.

Dr Johnson Fernandes, founder and CEO of equiwatt, said: “As the country continues to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, energy security challenges and moving towards a low carbon future, the DFS has an important role to play. The use of smart meter technology essentially creates a virtual power plant where usage can be monitored and managed, including encouraging households to reduce consumption at peak times.

“Making simple changes to energy intensive household activities such as cooking can make a huge difference when multiplied across thousands of homes simultaneously, protecting our energy supplies and preventing the need to bring dirty coal-fired stations back online.

“At the same time, this will help reduce consumers’ energy bills and reward them for their participation. Throughout the first DFS period we saw growing interest and participation through equiwatt and are confident that the scheme will gain prominence in the public consciousness as consumers remain focused on their household budgets and their ability to positively impact on the environment by reducing carbon emissions.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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