Households living near key sites could see their electricity bills slashed – or even wiped out entirely – on some days.

The move has been revealed with the launch of Government-backed trials aimed at tackling Britain’s strained power grid and could provide support for Brits living near wind farms.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the scheme will offer cut-price or free electricity to people in areas where wind turbines are frequently switched off because the network cannot handle excess supply.

Officials admitted that at times there is simply too much wind power being generated – particularly in Scotland and parts of the East of England – but not enough grid capacity to transport it to where it is needed.

Instead of paying wind farm operators compensation to power down, ministers want to redirect that surplus electricity to nearby households.

‘Free power’ to avoid costly switch-offs

The move is designed to reduce so-called “constraint payments”, which currently see energy firms paid to stop generating electricity when the grid is overloaded.

Under the trials, local residents would benefit directly from that surplus energy through sharply lower bills. The Government said the approach could both cut system costs and ensure more renewable energy is actually used rather than wasted.

However, the policy raises questions over consistency after ministers recently ruled out introducing a full “zonal pricing” system to Britain, which would permanently vary electricity prices by region depending on wind and solar supply versus demand.

Advocates argue that such a system could see data centres and industry move to those regions of the country with the highest wind and solar output in order to benefit from lower power prices Critics say the new trials announced this week appear to edge towards that very model.

Among those highlighting the contradiction is Greg Jackson, boss of Octopus Energy, a long-time advocate of zonal pricing. He welcomed the principle behind the scheme but warned the trial approach risks limiting its impact.

Mr Jackson said: “Octopus have long pushed for reforms to give people cheap electricity rather than paying wind farms to switch off so I’m pleased to see this but…”

He added that trials are “hugely ineffective” compared with permanent reform, arguing that lasting change would allow households and businesses to invest in technologies such as electric cars, heat pumps and batteries to take advantage of cheaper power.

“Permanent changes would mean you could buy an electric car, or a heat pump or batteries to use power when it’s cheap,” he said.

Mr Jackson also pointed out that the Government’s rejection of zonal pricing was intended to give certainty to generators – but said the trial does the opposite for consumers.

“No certainty so consumers of electricity can’t invest,” he warned.

In a pointed critique, he described the policy as “zonal by the back door”, questioning why ministers would not “go the whole hog and do zonal properly”.

Investment uncertainty warning

Mr Jackson argued that a successful energy transition would require far greater investment on the demand side – from households and industry – than on generation alone.

But he warned that uncertainty over future pricing structures risks holding back that spending.

“An energy transition would see six times more investment on the consumption side than the generation side,” he said, adding that consumers currently face far more uncertainty than energy producers and networks.

Stepping stone or policy clash?

The Government has not confirmed how long the trials will run or how widely they will be rolled out, but they are expected to focus on areas most affected by grid constraints.

While ministers insist the scheme is a practical way to cut waste and lower bills, the move is likely to intensify debate over whether Britain should adopt a full zonal pricing system.

For now, households near wind farms could be the first to benefit – but whether the policy marks a long-term shift or a temporary fix remains unclear.