Does wind power make your energy bill cheaper?

The short answer

Not directly, and not on the day. If you are on a standard variable tariff, your electricity price is set by your unit rate and standing charge, and the price cap fixes the maximum of both for three months at a time. From 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2026, the GB average capped rate is 26.32p per kWh with a 54.83p daily standing charge, whether the wind is blowing a gale or barely moving.

Wind does matter for prices over time, because it changes how much electricity has to come from other sources. But that effect reaches household bills slowly and indirectly, through wholesale markets and the next price-cap calculation, rather than half-hour by half-hour.

What the live grid map shows

The live grid on our homepage shows the share of Great Britain’s electricity supplied by each source in the latest published half-hour. When wind contributes more, it changes that mix and usually lowers the carbon intensity of each unit of electricity.

The turbines on the map use modelled local wind to illustrate conditions at selected wind farms. They do not report the actual output of each farm. The map is a picture of the power system, not a meter reading for your home or a live tariff.

What sets the price on your bill

Your bill is your usage multiplied by your unit rate, plus a daily standing charge for each day of the billing period. For default tariffs, Ofgem’s price cap sets the maximum unit rate and standing charge in each region. It updates the cap every quarter by applying new inputs, such as wholesale costs, to its price-cap formulae.

Wholesale costs are the biggest single part. For October–December 2026, Ofgem’s wholesale cost allowance rose by 11% and now makes up 47% of a typical Direct Debit bill under the cap, up from 44%. Network costs make up 24%, operating costs 17% and policy costs 6%. That is why a typical dual-fuel Direct Debit bill under the cap rose 4% to £1,723 a year. See the full price cap breakdown.

Where wind fits in

Ofgem’s own explanation of this quarter’s cap shows the link. It says geopolitical instability and extreme temperatures pushed up wholesale prices, and that these conditions, paired with low wind generation, led to an increased reliance on gas-fired generation. Because gas still plays a large role in setting power prices, the electricity wholesale allowance rose by 10% alongside a 13% rise for gas.

In other words, sustained periods of low wind can feed through to higher wholesale costs, and sustained periods of strong wind can help hold them down. But a single windy afternoon is a small part of a quarterly calculation, and supplier purchasing decisions also sit between wholesale markets and your bill. A high wind share on its own is not enough evidence that household prices will fall on a particular date.

The exception: time-of-use tariffs

Some tariffs charge different rates at different times of day. If you are on one of these, when you use electricity can affect your bill as well as how much you use. Check your own contract rather than assuming: most households on a standard single-rate tariff pay the same unit rate at every hour.

Economy 7 and other multi-rate tariffs also have separate peak and off-peak rates. Under the cap, Ofgem says the rates together cannot be more than the price cap.

Using the map and the calculator together

Use the live map to understand the electricity system: what is generating now, how clean the grid is and how conditions change through the day. Use your own unit rate, standing charge and usage in our energy bill calculator to estimate what you will actually pay. To see what a typical household pays in your area, look up your region’s price-cap rates.

The next price cap, for 1 January 2027 to 31 March 2027, will be announced by 25 November 2026. That announcement, not today’s weather, is what will change the capped rates on default tariffs.

Frequently asked questions