British energy authorities are preparing to encourage households to increase their electricity use during periods of peak renewable generation this summer, in an effort to prevent costly overloads on the national grid. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) plans to issue market notices prompting energy suppliers to offer discounted or free electricity when wind and solar output exceeds demand, nudging consumers to run appliances or charge electric vehicles at those times — avoiding the need to pay renewable farms to switch off, costs that are ultimately passed on through household bills. The initiative comes as Great Britain approaches what could be its first summer running entirely on zero-carbon electricity, having recently set consecutive solar generation records and a new wind power high, though grid bottlenecks in transmitting power from generation sites to population centres remain a key challenge.