Octopus Saving Sessions Winter 2026/27

Yes, Saving Sessions are running this winter. Octopus's Saving Sessions FAQ, updated on 20 October 2026, says: “We expect lots of Saving Sessions this year and they'll likely be between one and two hours long.” Its Saving Sessions page also says Octopus has “made a few changes to Saving Sessions this year”, which we cover below.

What isn't confirmed, because Octopus never publishes it, is a calendar or a fixed reward rate. Octopus says the number of sessions “will largely depend on how much help the service operators need”, and the Octopoints on offer change from one session to the next. Anyone quoting you a guaranteed figure for this winter is guessing.

One more thing that's changed: Saving Sessions are no longer only a winter event. The national scheme behind them went year-round in November 2024, and Octopus now runs Power Ups (use more) as well as Power Downs (use less), which can happen at any time of year.

A Power Down is the original Saving Session. When the grid is under strain, typically on a cold weekday evening, Octopus emails you and shows a pop-up in the app. You opt in, then use less electricity than you normally would during the session: delay the washing machine, cook earlier, switch off anything you don't need. Octopus pays Octopoints for every kWh you save.

A Power Up is the reverse. When there's more renewable power than the grid can use, Octopus pays you to use more than normal. Octopus says the go-ahead usually comes around 10am and the event can run any time between 11am and 4pm, though some happen at midday, overnight or at weekends. You opt in to each one separately, just like a Power Down.

Some areas also get local Power Ups, organised with the regional networks (Octopus names UK Power Networks, National Grid Electricity Distribution and Northern Powergrid in the East and Midlands) to ease congestion on local cables. These work slightly differently, so read each invitation.

Rewards are paid in Octopoints, the currency of Octoplus, Octopus's free rewards scheme. Octopus's Octoplus page says 800 Octopoints = £1 of account credit, and points are worth double in its Shoptopus store. You can also donate them to Octo Assist, Octopus's hardship fund. Octopus's FAQ says points expire three years after you earn them.

The rate isn't fixed. Octopus says you earn Octopoints per kWh, that the rate can change between sessions, and that each invitation shows what you can expect to earn before you opt in. Rewards are added to your dashboard within 14 days.

The key to the maths is your baseline: what you'd normally use at that time. Octopus works it out from your half-hourly smart meter readings at the same time of day over the last 10 weekdays, ignoring previous session days and bank holidays. Weekend and bank holiday sessions use the last four weekend days. You're paid on the gap between that baseline and what you actually use.

That has a practical consequence. If you already use very little in the early evening, there's not much to cut, so you won't earn much from Power Downs. If you normally run the oven, dishwasher and tumble dryer between 5pm and 7pm, you have far more room to earn.

Put plainly, Saving Sessions are a bonus, not an income. Octopus's figure for winter 2024/25, more than £10 million paid to more than 2 million households, works out at roughly £5 a household on average (our arithmetic). The earlier figures tell the same story: the 2022/23 season paid out £5.3 million to more than 700,000 customers, about £7.50 each on average, with the most active 5% earning over £41.

The households that do well have something they can move: a home battery, an EV on a smart charger, or heating they can shut down for an hour. A typical household turning off a few appliances for each session should expect a few pounds over a winter, which is still worth having for very little effort.

Be wary of bigger numbers you see quoted. Before the first full season in October 2022, Octopus said it expected to pay about £4 per kWh saved and that a household could earn around £100 over the winter. The season's actual payouts averaged far less, and the figures above are Octopus's own season totals.

Saving Sessions sit on top of a national scheme, the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), run by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), which keeps Britain's electricity supply and demand in balance. Octopus says both kinds of session now form part of DFS, that Power Downs run as part of it, and that NESO pays the reward.

The scheme has changed a lot since it began:

• Winter 2022: DFS launched as a winter-only scheme to cut peak demand.
• 27 November 2024: NESO made DFS a year-round service.
• April 2026: NESO expanded it so participants can also be rewarded for using electricity when renewable power is plentiful, which is what Power Ups pay for, and added zonal (regional) procurement.
• 7 October 2026: NESO began using DFS to manage grid constraints as well, bringing its separate Local Constraint Market into the service.

NESO says households take part through a participating supplier or aggregator, need a working smart meter, and face no penalty if they don't change their usage during an event. Its June 2026 early winter outlook expected electricity margins this winter to be adequate and comparable with recent winters, so sessions are about lowering costs and carbon rather than averting blackouts.

Alongside the points, Octopus runs Weekend Happy Hours: take part in weekday Power Downs and you can earn free electricity at the weekend. Octopus's Saving Sessions and Octoplus pages both say the offer runs until 14 February.

The way free hours are earned is changing. Independent coverage published on 27 October 2026 reports that, until 1 November, two successful weekday sessions earned one free weekend hour, and that from 1 November each successful session earns a token, with the number of tokens needed for an hour varying by weekend. We haven't been able to confirm those details on an Octopus page, so check the rules in the Octopus app before planning around them.

If you're not with Octopus yet, our how to switch to Octopus guide covers the sign-up, and how it works explains the £50 referral credit you get by joining through a referral link. To be transparent, we get £50 too when someone joins through ours. If you don't have a smart meter, our smart meters guide covers getting one fitted.

Most Octopus tariffs work with Saving Sessions, including Flexible Octopus, the fixes and Agile Octopus. Octopus says smart EV or battery charging on its Intelligent tariffs counts towards Power Up rewards. The one to check is Snug Octopus: Octopus says you can't join other flexibility schemes on its storage heater tariff.

• Turn on notifications. Power Down notice is usually two to six hours, and Power Ups can be shorter. Miss the opt-in and you miss the reward.
• Move the big loads. Ovens, tumble dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, electric showers and EV chargers are where the kWh are. Shifting one cooking session out of a Power Down window does more than switching off every light.
• Save the jobs for Power Ups. If you can, hold the washing or the EV charge for a daytime Power Up and get paid to use electricity you'd have used anyway.
• Batteries and EVs earn the most. If you have a home battery, set it to discharge during Power Downs and charge during Power Ups. On Intelligent Octopus Go, Octopus says smart charging during a Power Up counts.
• Stay safe. NESO advises avoiding running appliances overnight where possible, and following Electrical Safety First guidance, if you move usage around.
• Pair it with the right tariff. Households who can shift usage often save more on a time-of-use tariff such as Agile than from sessions alone. Our ways to save money guide has more.