DECC - Smart Metering Programme
Foundation Smart Market - Executive Summary
The Government Response to the Consultation on the
Foundation Smart Market and Further Consultation
Purpose of this document
The Foundation Smart Market consultation of November 2012 considered
issues relating to change of supplier for customers with SMETS compliant
smart meters during the Foundation Stage (Smart Change of Supplier), and the
enrolment and adoption of Foundation Stage (‘Foundation’) smart metering
systems and communications into the DCC service. It sought views on options
and proposals to address these issues, including potential new regulation.
This document:
- summarises the consultation responses;
- sets out the Government’s conclusions on the three Smart Change Of
Supplier licence conditions that were consulted upon;
- consults on the legal drafting for these three licence conditions;
- proposes and consults on a fourth licence condition to support Smart
Change of Supplier;
- sets out criteria and a number of conclusions in relation to the enrolment
and adoption of Foundation metering systems and communications by the
DCC; and
- consults on some further options in relation to cost recovery associated with
enrolment and adoption.
Smart Change of Supplier
The Government has concluded that it will introduce three new Supply Licence
conditions to support Smart Change of Supplier:
- following a change of supplier, the losing supplier of a consumer with a
SMETS compliant smart metering system will be required to:
- provide the gaining supplier with the details of the Meter Asset
Provider (MAP) for the relevant smart metering equipment; and
- provide the MAP with the identity of the gaining supplier.
- where a gaining supplier acquires a SMETS compliant smart metering
system on change of supplier, it will be required to agree rental terms
with the relevant MAP, within one or six months (depending on whether it
has existing commercial arrangements with the MAP) or return the smart
metering equipment to the MAP, within one month thereafter; and
- a supplier will be required to take all reasonable steps to install a
SMETS-compliant smart metering system when it replaces a SMETS-
compliant smart metering system following change of supplier.
The Government has given further consideration to how a positive consumer
experience upon change of supplier could be further supported. This document
therefore consults on a potential fourth licence condition. This would require suppliers to continue to carry out remote meter reads when gaining a SMETS
compliant metering system.
Enrolment and Adoption
The Government believes there are important and common benefits from the
DCC being able to enrol and adopt SMETS 1 equipment, including in particular
more reliably efficient and effective switching of customers with such meters. It
should also reduce the risk of assets being replaced before the end of their
operating lives.
The Government therefore believes an important task for the DCC, its service
providers, and energy suppliers will be to establish a project to develop
systems under which the DCC will operate SMETS 1 meters on behalf of
suppliers.
The Government has concluded that this work should be carried forward
according to a number of key principles:
- that all significant populations of SMETS1 meters should be supported;
- that the first generation of enrolment should be undertaken as a single
exercise to minimise costs; and
- that the costs of the system development should be spread across all users
in the same manner as the development cost of the main DCC systems.
This Response document sets out the enrolment criteria which will be included
within regulation and which, if met, should ensure that meters would be
technically capable of enrolment into the DCC service.
The Government will continue to work with industry to define the timing and
requirements for the initial systems projects to support enrolment of Foundation
meters.
The Government is consulting further on proposals for recovery of on-going
communications costs for Foundation meters.
Effect of Proposals
The combined package of measures confirmed and/or being consulted upon in
this document is designed to:
- facilitate the enrolment of SMETS1 metering systems installed during the
Foundation Stage into the DCC;
- provide further clarity to suppliers on the process they will need to follow to
achieve timely enrolment of any meters that they have installed during the
Foundation Stage. It is expected that, subject to suppliers and the DCC
complying with the requirements of this process, enrolment could be
achieved before or shortly after the DCC commences services;
- increase the confidence of suppliers installing SMETS-compliant metering
systems and parties funding such investments during Foundation; and
- help ensure that consumers with smart meters that choose to switch
supplier during Foundation will continue to have a positive experience and
receive the benefits of smart metering.