British Gas will offer cheaper rates for electricity on Christmas Day in a bid to encourage consumption away from the busiest times.
Customers will be able to access half-price electricity between 11:00 and 16:00 on Christmas Day under its PeakSave scheme, which is available to those with smart meters.
This scheme itself usually applies between the same times on Sundays, with customers being refunded half of the price of the electricity they had used during the period.
“We know many people will be spending more time at home during this period, particularly on Christmas Day,” British Gas Energy managing director Catherine O’Kelly said.
“We wanted to give a little something back to our customers, helping them to save on their energy bills while also contributing to a greener grid.”
Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA)-owned British Gas extended the deadline for its PeakSave scheme last week, meaning discounted rates will be offered on certain days until March rather than December.
Smart meter customers who have signed up for the scheme come December 17 will be able to access the discounted rates over the festive period. These are also set to be offered on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, given each falls on a Sunday.
British Gas ran its first PeakSave scheme last December, similar to National Grid’s demand flexibility service, in which the supplier also takes part.
Run by National Grid’s system operating wing, the flexibility service was set up to incentivise energy usage at different times in the face of squeezed supply.
“The results from the scheme so far have been really positive and show that half price electricity on Sundays is helping our customer to save money while also shifting usage,” O’Kelly added.