Octopus Energy has rolled out a new way for its UK customers to get free weekend electricity by lowering their power use on certain weekday evenings. The company, which supplies electricity to about eight million homes, ties this offer to its Saving Sessions program for households with smart meters. Saving Sessions is a demand-flexibility effort where participating households cut electricity use during times when the grid faces pressure. This lets Octopus shift consumption away from peak demand. The company pays customers for reducing or moving usage, aiming to balance the electricity system and use more renewable power when available, as detailed in an Octopus Energy corporate announcement.
During these weekday Saving Sessions, customers who cut their electricity use during set one-hour evening periods receive tokens. Each successful session earns one token, and two tokens can be traded for a free hour of electricity on the weekend. The free electricity is available during set "Happy Hour" slots, usually on Sunday afternoons, but Octopus is adding Saturday sessions for more flexibility. According to the Daily Express, Saturday bookings are not limited to the usual 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. window.
How the program works
To join, households need a working smart meter, must enroll in Octoplus-the company's free rewards program-and register for Saving Sessions. Payment can be made in advance or by Direct Debit. The offer runs through Valentine's Day 2027, so customers can collect tokens and redeem them for free weekend power during the winter months.
When Octopus first launched Happy Hours during a summer eclipse, nearly 800,000 households joined in. Since then, the company says it has provided over eight million free electricity hours, valued at more than £1.7 million ($2.2 million). In a corporate announcement dated 12 November 2026, Octopus reported that its Saving Sessions scheme had paid households over £12 million for cutting electricity use during peak periods, with 1.8 million customers taking part during a summer heatwave. Octopus's wider flexibility strategy also covers commercial and industrial users, including a Peak Performance program for large businesses such as factories, warehouses, and hotels. This program pays them for reducing or shifting electricity demand when the grid is strained. The company described one megawatt of flexibility as roughly matching the electricity demand of a large supermarket or commercial office block, with participating businesses able to earn thousands to tens of thousands of pounds each year depending on how much electricity they can shift.
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, chief customer officer at Octopus Energy, told the Daily Express, "Whether you're roasting a Sunday lunch, carving Halloween pumpkins, or powering up Christmas lights, we're keeping the green energy flowing and helping households keep their bills down." She added, "Our customers spoke, and we listened. The response to our Happy Hours has been phenomenal, so extending them through the cold winter months was a no-brainer." Octopus has linked demand flexibility to lower-cost electricity and the integration of renewable generation, reporting that commercial users pairing flexibility services with smart tariffs such as Shape Shifters have saved an average of 7% on their annual electricity bills by using power at cheaper, greener times.
For readers interested in broader trends affecting household costs, a recent report examined how shelter and food prices have contributed to changes in consumer expenses.
