GEODE Position Paper on
Meter Data Management - Executive summary
In order to operate an effective and efficient smart grid in the future GEODE believes that the
smart meter will be a vital part of a chain of functions delivering electricity and data to and from
the customer. GEODE also believes the DSO plays an important role in the development of
Smart Metering.
Therefore, it will be necessary for a number of parties to interact and access data from the
customers’ meter. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop efficient processes and standards for
the different actors to operate considering different timeframes and requirements when it comes
to obtaining information from the meter.
For GEODE there are three main issues that need to be addressed when establishing Meter
Data Management systems: information exchange, the DSOs regulated duties and the standard
open interface.
The neutral, effective and secure exchange of information between the market actors is crucial.
The way the data should be exchanged must be standardised within market area and the data
exchange model chosen should be designed to support competition in non-regulated areas and
the development of new services. The DSO should help to make this possible, providing
information to each actor in a non-discriminatory and secure way.
There are some regulated duties that the DSO (or any similarly licensed actor) is obliged to
undertake. To enable the DSO to operate their network and to maintain security of supply
effectively and efficiently, certain smart meter data should be made available to DSOs as a
matter of course. This data could be, for instance, consumption data for billing, data for
calculation of net losses, information regarding meter tampering and illegal abstraction. There is
also some data (Power Quality, Network Load Situation, etc) the DSO will need to operate their
network in an optimal fashion, to the benefit of the customer and the whole energy system.
The consumer, who in the future energy market will often act as a producer as well, the so
called “Prosumer”, should be able to choose what types of, and how much, information provided
by their smart meter should be available to other market participants -through the standardized
open interface - with the exception of that data which is required for certain actors, such as
DSOs, to carry out their regulated duties. Other market actors, the supplier and the energy
service providers, ESCOs, will also need access to information - if suitably authorised by the
customer. There is a need to establish a European standard for the local open interface in the
new smart meters to allow for data exchange among other market actors. This work is essential
and GEODE supports the establishment of this within Commission Smart Grids Task Force
activities on standardisation.
GEODE supports the need to establish minimum common functionalities in all future installed
meters, such as providing meters with a standard open interface for customer use. The
standard open interface should provide real-time energy consumption data locally to customer
use.
Interoperability is crucial to ensure that all data captured by smart meters are readable by the
DSO, the Supplier and other market actors (irrespective of who collects the data or who bills the
Customer).
Finally, when defining the principles of meter Data Management at European level unique
national situations due to historical traditions, technical development and current market
structure should be considered.