Brits with certain energy providers are being paid not to use energy

Winter is well and truly drawing in. And with the temperature falling rapidly, many will be concerned about their bills over the coming months.

Even with the government's price guarantee, which is set to run until the end of March next year, millions will be struggling to make ends meet.

But a new initiative has been launched which will see energy companies pay customers to not use their electricity during winter.

The National Grid warned that British households could be facing blackouts during the depths of winter due to energy shortages.

So, in a bid to reduce the strain on the country's infrastructure, it has launched the Demand Flexibility Scheme, which allows energy suppliers to offer financial incentives to customers who reduce their usage.

Kevin Britland/Alamy

Speaking about the scheme, the National Grid's chief executive John Pettigrew said: "We’re really pleased with the take-up. It will continue to grow as we move through the winter."

So far, a number of companies have signed up, including Octopus Energy, which is rolling out a scheme called Saving Sessions that will allow customers to save around £100 throughout the winter period.

Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy Group, comments: “Let’s be very clear: this is a historic moment – we’re entering a new era of energy in which households are moving from passive offtakers to active enablers of a smarter, greener and cheaper grid.

“Instead of cutting off whole chunks of the country if we are short of gas, we can reward people for using less energy at times of peak demand.

"We were the first energy supplier to offer this service to our customers, and we hope others will follow our lead.

Robert Wilkinson/Alamy

"By doing so, we can make blackouts a thing of the past, and bring costs down for everyone.”

British Gas already announced that it would be backing the move.

Before rolling it out in full, though, the firm is trialling a scheme that will reward customers for reducing their usage during peak times.

A spokesperson for British Gas said: "By encouraging consumers to reduce their usage at peak times we can balance demand on the grid whilst helping consumers save on their energy bills.

"We are working on how this scheme can work best for our customers and fit in with their habits around the home.

"We will be running a trial first to learn from before using our scale to roll out to our wider customer base."

As well as these two, EDF and E.ON have also committed themselves to the scheme.