National Grid have said that deals have been signed with companies such as Tata Steel and Flexitricity to give the companies money in return for using less electricity at the most peak times of the year.
This is said to be an attempt to give the National Grid the tools it needs to balance the demand on power grid.
The deal will be applied at times between four and eight in the evening on weekday evenings through November to February.
There has already been a fear of energy shortages as some energy plants have had to shut down.
431 sites across the UK have become party to what the National Grid are calling "Demand Side Balancing Reserve".
If necessary, the firms will lower their power demand or turn to their own generators, which would in return receive compensation.
This plan has been put together with an aim to "ensuring the network is resilient now and in the future".
The National Grid admitted to be putting in place an emergency plan and negotiating how much more electricity providers could give to fill shortages. This is thought to be due to several power plant problems including fires at E.On's Ironbridge and SSE's Ferrybridge power plants, and precautionary checks at EDF Energy's Heysham and Hartlepool nuclear plants.
It was thought by the National Grid in June that an emergency plan would not be needed this year, but this has now changed.
As old plants shut down and new plants seem slow to start, the UK begins to come face to face with a serious reduction in electricity generation.
