Ministers have stepped back from mooted plans to launch a public information campaign to encourage households to reduce their energy use this winter.
A campaign asking households to turn their thermostats down and use their dishwashers and washing machines at times when energy demand is lower have been discussed between the business department, energy companies and the network operator National Grid.
However, business department on Wednesday said there are now “no plans for the government to tell the public to reduce usage for the sake of our energy supplies”.
National Grid will on Thursday explain how Britain’s power system will cope with a harsh winter, amid growing concern that factories could be forced to shut down as Vladimir Putin chokes Europe’s gas supplies.
Ministers have so far played down the threat to energy supplies this winter, insisting in August that the UK’s “highly secure and diverse gas and electricity…
