January 2026
Within an Energy Local Club, well-timed energy use, to match local generation, saves customers money.
This is why ‘demand shifting’ is central to the ethos of Energy Local Clubs.
What is demand shifting?
Demand shifting simply means changing when you use electricity, usually to take advantage of cheaper tariffs away from peak times.
In an Energy Local Club, it also means using power at the same time as the local renewable generator is producing it.
How demand shifting helps Energy Local Club members and your area
As a club member, demand shifting is one of the simplest ways to:
- Lower your electricity bill. Local renewable generation matched half hour by half hour to your power use through your club’s ‘match tariff’ is typically cheaper than grid electricity.
- Use cleaner power. You’ll be relying less on fossil fuel-based electricity and more on your local area’s renewable generation.
- Support your community. The more you use power as it’s generated locally, the more your local generator makes through the ‘match tariff’.
- Help your local grid handle increased renewable generation and electrification. By matching your energy use to local generation, you’re helping the local ‘distribution’ grid run more efficiently.
We support members to shift their usage to cheaper times.
Your smart meter records when and how much power you use and your Energy Local dashboard helps you see when locally generated power (like solar or hydro) is available.
When you match your usage to those periods, you’re rewarded with a cheaper local tariff for the power available. The local power is shared between club members using electricity at that time, so when fewer club members are using power, for example in the middle of the day, you get a larger piece of the local renewables ‘cake’.
Beyond Energy Local
More widely, the timing of the nation’s electricity use is becoming increasingly important. More of our heating and transport is being electrified to reduce carbon emissions and harmful pollution, and more of our electricity is being produced by UK renewables.
That’s good news for our environment, health and national energy security.
However, it’s also putting extra pressure on our national and local grids and there are challenges in managing weather-dependent power generation.
This means when consumers use energy can exacerbate or alleviate strain on the network. Crucially it also affects whether we need carbon-emitting gas power stations as backup generation at peak times.
The impact of every consumer’s peak time energy use
Across the UK, most people use energy at similar times — especially between 4pm and 8pm, when large numbers of people are cooking, watching TV and switching on lights.
By spreading our energy use more evenly across the day, we can potentially:
- reduce the need for expensive, fossil-fuelled back-up power;
- create space for more renewable generation to connect to the grid; and
- help local distribution grids run more smoothly and efficiently, potentially cutting costs for all billpayers.
Easy ways to shift and save
You don’t need to overhaul your lifestyle and small changes add up:
- Use appliances like your washing machine, dishwasher or tumble dryer during off-peak times, or in an Energy Local Club, when the local renewable generator is pumping out power.
- Use your slow cooker or batch cook off-peak.
- Use your smart plugs to run appliances when power is cheapest.
We find Energy Local Club members get in a habit, for example households in hydro power-based clubs reflexively putting the washing on when it’s raining.
Small changes add up to a smarter energy system
Demand shifting helps to smooth out the load placed on the grid, and free up capacity.
An Energy Local Club contributes to this at a local level while saving members money.
If everyone makes small changes, we can cut costs, reduce strain on the grid, and support a cleaner energy system for everyone.