More than 1m households and businesses have signed up to participate and most suppliers have closed the scheme to new participants.

The scheme is only open to businesses and households with a smart meter whose supplier or aggregator is one of the 26 firms to have signed up. The “demand flexibility service” had only been used in trials before its first live use – during a “saving session” scheduled for between 5pm-6pm on Monday. The use of these additional services is not an indication that electricity supplies are at risk, but that we require greater options to manage the network as normal.- National Grid ESO January 23, 2023 We have taken this decision as we currently see a similar operational picture to the one available on Sunday.