A system and method reduce power consumption in a multi-hop wireless communications network. A signal is received from a source node in an intermediate node. The signal includes a request to relay a message to a destination node. The request includes information on power requirements to relay the message either in a relay mode or a regeneration mode. If the available power at the intermediate node exceeds the power requirements, then the request is accepted. Either the relay mode or the regeneration mode is selected, based on criteria for retransmitting the message, and the message is then relayed to the destination node using the selected mode.