A MAJOR energy supplier is giving away four hours of free electricity to thousands of customers today.
The offer is available to customers from 11am to 3pm today.
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The free hours are available to customers who have signed up for the Octopus Energy Agile tariff.
You can use as much electricity as you want between these hours, so it could be a good time to run your washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher.
Or you could batch cook your meals today then reheat them during the week.
The tariff charges customers different rates for the energy they use, depending on when the wholesale price of electricity rises and falls.
Read more on energy bills
This means that when the wholesale price of electricity drops, so do your bills.
But if the wholesale price rises then you could pay more for electricity than if you were on a standard tariff.
Meanwhile, if you can shift your daily electricity use outside of peak times, you can save even more money.
Octopus Energy has sent eligible customers an alert to let them know that they can claim the free electricity today.
How do I join Agile Octopus?
If you want to sign up for the tariff then you need to be an Octopus Energy customer.
To join from another energy supplier you will need to sign up for a standard Octopus tariff and then switch to Agile.
You will also need a smart meter.
It usually takes around 14 days for Octopus to connect to your smart meter so it can read it remotely.
Once you are connected and Octopus is receiving your half-hourly readings it will send you an email asking you to accept the Terms and Conditions.
Your tariff will then automatically change to Agile Octopus and you should be able to see the change straight away in your online account.
What energy bill help is available?
There’s a number of different ways to get help paying your energy bills if you’re struggling to get by.
If you fall into debt, you can always approach your supplier to see if they can put you on a repayment plan before putting you on a prepayment meter.
This involves paying off what you owe in instalments over a set period.
If your supplier offers you a repayment plan you don’t think you can afford, speak to them again to see if you can negotiate a better deal.
Several energy firms have schemes available to customers struggling to cover their bills.
But eligibility criteria vary depending on the supplier and the amount you can get depends on your financial circumstances.
For example, British Gas or Scottish Gas customers struggling to pay their energy bills can get grants worth up to £2,000.
British Gas also offers help via its British Gas Energy Trust and Individuals Family Fund.
You don’t need to be a British Gas customer to apply for the second fund.
EDF, E.ON, Octopus Energy and Scottish Power all offer grants to struggling customers too.
Thousands of vulnerable households are missing out on extra help and protections by not signing up to the Priority Services Register (PSR).
The service helps support vulnerable households, such as those who are elderly or ill.
Some of the perks include being given advance warning of blackouts, free gas safety checks and extra support if you’re struggling.
Get in touch with your energy firm to see if you can apply.
Your unit rates for the next 24 hours are calculated between 4-8pm every day, based on the wholesale market rates.
For more information go to octopus.energy/smart/agile.
Do other suppliers offer free electricity?
Octopus Energy is not the only electricity supplier that will give you free electricity.
E.ON Next is giving new and existing customers free electricity on every bank holiday until March 2026.
The next one is the August bank holiday on August 25.
E.ON Next said its offer could save households £3.50 every bank holiday – which would save you around £21 over the course of a year.
To get the deal you need to be signed up for the supplier’s Pledge tariff.
The tariff is fixed for a year and offers rates that track below the Ofgem price cap, which is currently £1,849 a year for a typical household.
Ovo Energy
Ovo Energy gives customers the chance to win free energy if they reduce their use at peak times.
The Power Move offer gives customers the chance to win up to £2,000 of free electricity if they use 85% or more of their energy at off-peak times.
For every month a customer’s peak energy usage is less than 15% they are entered into a prize draw.
Five customers win the top prize of £2,000 worth of energy to use over the course of a year, with 100 winning £50 prizes and 37,250 people receiving £2 of free energy.
To sign up visit ovoenergy.com/power-move.
Scottish Power
Scottish Power’s Power Save scheme gives customers the chance to access half-price electricity between 11am and 4pm every weekend.
Customers need to register to become a Power Saver to have half of the cost of the energy they use during these hours refunded.
The supplier will also occasionally launch an ad-hoc Power Saver event during the week.
You need to have a smart meter to become a Power Saver.
To sign up visit the Scottish Power website.
EDF
EDF is giving away two days’ worth of free electricity to thousands of customers this month.
The offer is available on June 1 and June 8.
The scheme is part of EDF’s Sunday Saver challenges, where customers earn free electricity on Sundays by shifting the electricity they use during the week.
To be eligible they need to move their electricity usage away from the weekday peak hours of 4pm to 7pm.
The more electricity customers move away from these hours, the more free electricity they can earn, with between four and 16 hours up for grabs.
This is added as credit to your account.
One way to do this is not to run your dishwasher or washing machine during these hours.
To be eligible you needed to have signed up for the challenge between April 28 and May 4.
But EDF frequently launches these savings challenges, so keep an eye out for the next one to avoid missing out.
Energy bill increases
The average dual full energy bill for those on a variable tariff will fall to £1,720 a year from July.
This is a decrease of 7% compared to the cap set between April 1 and June 30.
The news will be welcomed by the 22 million households in England, Scotland and Wales who are not on a fixed energy tariff.
But if you will still struggle to pay that then you can take action as you could be missing out on free boilers and energy bill discounts.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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