Free electricity for doing the wash at weekends

One of the benefits of green energy is that households will be offered free electricity this summer to do their laundry, wash their dishes or power their car on warm weekends.

That is the view of Midlands energy expert Ron Fox, who was commenting on a decision by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), which this month announced a scheme to reward residents and businesses to increase their electricity use when there is an oversupply of energy.

“It is an innovative idea,” said Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park, “because as well as helping households it will mean NESO will avoid surplus power being wasted and they won’t need to pay wind and solar farms to be switched off when they generate more than the Grid can handle.”

Last year, it cost NESO almost £1.5 billion to switch off wind and solar farms when they produced too much electricity in warm weather and used gas instead. This figure is forecast to rise further as more wind farms are built.

The change was approved by the industry regulator Ofgem, meaning the Demand Flexibility Scheme will be able to encourage people to increase their use of electricity when demand is lower in the warmer summer months.

NESO said that increasing the number of rooftop solar panels and solar farms that fed electricity directly into local power grids was also expected to reduce demand on the national network to a record low this summer.

On almost a third of days in 2025, a record half of Britain’s electricity came from renewables, with wind the biggest single renewable source. Solar-powered electricity was up by nearly a third on 2024 levels.

Not only was 2025 the UK’s sunniest year on record, it was also a record year for rooftop solar panels, with about 250,000 new small-scale installations reported to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.

Under this new scheme, households in different parts of the country may be offered free power at different times when more green energy is being generated, and demand is low, such as on weekends or Bank Holidays.
It will be open to households with a smart meter, whose electrical suppliers are participating in the scheme.

NESO will tell energy companies when it wants the scheme to run, who in turn will decide how to pass this money on to customers.

Rewards will vary and could include customers being offered free or cheaper electricity at certain times, or points that could be converted into gift cards.

Companies that have signed up to the scheme so far include British Gas, Equiwatt and Octopus Energy, NESO said.

Providers already offer incentives, such as cheaper rates, for customers in Britain to shift their electricity use outside of peak times through a scheme by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).

“This seems a very sensible idea,” said Ron, “and will encourage more people to switch to green energy when they see the benefits and incentives available. It’s a win win, both for householders, NESO and also the wind and solar farms.”

This article raises some interesting questions, said Ron. Do you think free electricity on sunny weekends is a good idea? Would you like to see this new idea in your area? Will you be taking advantage of this if allowed? If successful, should this idea be extended for longer periods? Send your views to Ron Fox at [email protected]

Ron added: “If you want any advice about green energy and cheaper bills, call me on 0845 474 6641 or contact me here”

Caption: Summer bonus – free electricity will be on offer for some households to do their laundry, wash their dishes or power their car on warm weekends.

Picture: John Butterworth