Bringing down the power consumption in British homes, businesses and industry could be much cheaper than paying the companies to supply it, said the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in a release.
A 10% electricity demand reduction is expected to produce savings of around £4bn in 2030, in addition to cutting down 4.5 megatonnes of carbon.
The DECC said it is seeking views on a number of key proposals to reduce electricity demand across the whole UK economy, including financial incentives and non-financial incentives.
Energy Secretary Edward Davey noted that the Coalition Government is determined to help reduce energy bills for consumers, cut down costs for businesses and bring down emissions in the UK.
"We need to make our energy supply fit for the 21st century, and in a world of rising gas prices we must power our homes and businesses in a much more efficient way," Davey added.
"That’s why today I am setting out economy wide, ambitious proposals to cut electricity demand. These build on our energy efficiency strategy published earlier this month and will help us lower bills and reduce the need for expensive new energy generation."
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said, "Cutting the amount of electricity we use not only saves money on bills and reduces the need for new generation capacity, it makes good business sense too."
Consultation for the electricity demand reduction will close on 31 January 2013 and the government plans to outline final details early next year.
