Ninety per cent of businesses would provide demand side response (DSR) if it did not adversely affect their operations.

A total of 87 per cent of the 73 per cent of businesses that do not currently provide DSR said they would be interested in earning revenue from DSR if it did not affect their operation.

Of the 200 end-users polled in a new survey by Energyst, sponsored by National Grid and several DSR aggregators, the top reasons cited for not considering DSR participation are a belief that equipment and processes are not suitable (39 per cent) and fear of disruption (37 per cent).

28 per cent said they did not understand the market well enough to make a decision while 24 per cent think return on investment is insufficient.

Of the 27 per cent that do provide DSR, 76 per cent use on-site, while 59 per cent also switch off or turn down consumption.

Only 14 per cent provide purely turndown DSR.

Last week union GMB slammed DSR as “fanciful nonsense”, urging the government to finalise plans for Hinkley Point C.

Flexitricity hit back, insisting the mechanism is “vital” for UK energy security regardless.