We have now entered the Post Implementation Period of the programme which consists of two formal phases, still governed by the Switching Programme:
End-to-end Cutover Approach and Plan (ECAP) - the governance stability period from Go-Live to ECAP exit which will monitor and support the successful transition to the new switching arrangements.
During this period any major incidents will be managed through the Switching Programme’s Issues Resolution Group (IRG), and the Switching Programme will monitor to confirm that system and service stability have been achieved. Following the achievement of ECAP exit the IRG will close, and the Major Incident Management process will transfer to REC governance.
Programme Exit – the formal closedown and the exit of Ofgem’s switching programme and full transition to enduring REC governance arrangements.
RECCo will be reporting regularly to the Switching Programme during the ECAP period to support the assessment of system and service stability being achieved.
The REC Code Manager will also be working to ensure that new and amended processes implemented as part of REC Version 3 are working as expected and preparing for full REC governance to take effect from ECAP exit.
For Programme Exit, RECCo will be working with the Switching Programme and DCC to ensure that our Programme Exit Acceptance Criteria are met and evidenced to support a smooth transition to enduring governance arrangements.
DELIVERABLES
OPERATIONAL STABILITY
OPERATIONAL READINESS
PEOPLE
CHANGE
Required deliverables from the Switching Programme for RECCo to take responsibility for the governance of the new Switching Arrangements
Evidence that the new arrangements are sufficiently stable to support programme exit and full transition to REC governance
Confirmation that RECCo is operationally ready for programme exit and full transition to REC governance
Evidence that roles and responsibilities have been appropriately identified and defined
Confirmation of no outstanding changes is required under programme governance to achieve operational stability and outstanding change requests have been captured in the REC change management process
You can find out more about the Switching Programme on our website.
Have a question?
If you wish to discuss anything related to RECCo’s role in the Switching Programme, please contact Jon Hawkins.
As part of delivering against one of RECCo’s strategic aims to further consolidate and simplify retail energy market arrangements, our Metering Code of Practice Consolidation Review project is nearing completion.
The purpose of the review is to consolidate the 4 Metering CoPs which are under the REC into a single set of metering arrangements that removes duplication and creates a logical approach to governing the arrangements for metering installations and maintenance.
The REC Metering Expert Panel (MEP) provides a key source of industry knowledge to the project, ensuring that the review does not compromise existing requirements on REC Parties or enforce any additional obligations. In addition to the MEPs expert input, industry participants have had the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the developed consolidated drafting.
The deadline for final comments has now passed (30th June) and we are pleased to say that all comments have been addressed and feedback has been provided back to respondents. A REC Change Proposal is now in progress with an impact assessment consultation due to be published on 29 July 2022.
If you have any questions regarding the procurement process, please contact procurement@retailenergycode.co.uk.
In addition to the single set of metering arrangements, we are seeking to competitively procure a service provider to deliver the accreditation scheme against the new set of metering arrangements.
We will be working alongside the incumbent service provider to develop a suitable framework for the delivery of future accreditations, and it is not expected that the schemes will change before 1 April 2023.
A market engagement event will be held for potential service providers on 3 August 2022, to give interested service parties an opportunity to learn more about RECCo, the current metering schemes and the high-level requirements of the service being procured. Please contact the project team to register your interest.
If you currently receive audits under MCoP, MOCoP, ASPCoP or SMICoP, we would like to hear from you.
We are currently reviewing the current metering audit schemes as part of the Metering Consolidation Review and we wish to invite feedback from the recipients of this service.
We have put together a short survey, that will help us develop the future scheme in line with the consolidated Metering Codes of Practice. The deadline for completion is Friday, 5th August.
We will also offer 1-2-1 discussions on the audit process during August. If you would like the opportunity to discuss your experience with the audit schemes, please complete the survey and submit your contact details. The project team will be in touch with you to arrange a suitable time.
Energy theft is any form of illegal extraction of gas and electricity, whereby the full amount of energy used is not recorded and paid for.
Energy theft and resulting metering tampering is a severe safety concern as well as adding additional costs to end consumers. As a result, under the Retail Energy Code (REC), we are required to work with the energy industry to progress an Energy Theft Reduction Strategy.
In line with the Energy Theft Reduction Strategy, we are working to continuously improve our current services to assist Parties with tackling cases of energy theft. As such, we increased the marketing budget for the Energy Theft Tip of Service (ETTOS) so we can continue to inform the public about the dangers of energy theft, the channels which they can be reported to and provide guidance for those who are struggling with their energy bills.
We are also undertaking research to gather feedback from the public on areas such as awareness of ETTOS and the Stay Energy Safe brand and visibility of the previous Tick Tok marketing campaigns. This includes 4 rounds of research conducted via focus groups July.
The sessions are recorded, if you wish to see a recording of the focus groups, please email theft@retailenergycode.co.uk and we will send you a non-disclosure form to sign. Once signed and returned, we will provide a link to the recording.
If you wish to find out more about RECCo’s Energy Reduction Theft Strategy please contact theft@retailenergycode.co.uk.
Market-wide Half-hourly Settlement (MHHS) is designed as an enabler of the move to a smarter, more flexible energy system.
MHHS will implement a new Target Operating Model for the electricity market where site-specific, half-hourly energy consumption is recorded for all metering points. This will act as an enabler for innovative products, services and tariffs and more efficient management of the electricity networks.
As part of our role under the REC, we are responsible for ensuring that the MHHS requirements impacting the REC and REC Services are delivered and that the solutions will continue to deliver positive outcomes for consumers.
The MHHS programme is now entering the final stages of its design phase, with all design artefacts expected to be published for review by 29 July 2022. RECCo is continuing to participate in the design working groups and design artefact reviews to ensure impacts to the retail energy market are appropriately considered.
The MHHS programme has recently issued CR009 'M5 (Physical Baseline Delivered) and M3 (Design and Build start) milestone date changes’ for impact assessment.
These proposes to move the milestones for baselining the physical design and the formal start of the design, build and test phase for all programme participants to 31 October 2022. CR009 proposes that all design artefacts would have been issued by 31 August 2022, with all comments addressed and final versions of these baselined by the revised M5 milestones.
With the final design artefacts being finalised, RECCo is also focusing on any outstanding dependencies or consequential changes required to deliver changes to the REC, including impacts to the Central Switching Service (CSS), Electricity Enquiry Service (EES) and Secure Data Exchange Service (SDES).
We are working closely with the programme to define any MHHS programme requirements and dependencies on this and will be working with the DCC and EES/SDES Service Providers to fully define the impacts and requirements ahead of commencing a detailed impact assessment after the M5 milestone has been achieved.
Stakeholder input will be required to support this work and RECCo will be seeking industry feedback on certain design issues/clarifications at the MHHS Consequential Change Impact Assessment Group (CCIAG) over the next few months.
If you are not currently engaged in the CCIAG workstream and are interested in joining these discussions, you can find out more from the MHHS website (Governance - MHHS Programme) and request to be added to the distribution list by emailing the MHHS PMO.
We are looking for a small group of industry experts to provide informal advice to the MHHS Project Team on potential programme design gaps and issues. This is not a formal working group, but a small group of industry experts that can support the project team with feedback on design issues and solution options to address these. The group will not be expected to make any formal decisions, and will act in an advisory capacity only.
Specifically, we are looking for representatives from Electricity Suppliers, Distribution Network Operators (including IDNOs) and Metering Equipment Managers (MEMs) with expertise in one or more of the following areas:
If you would be interested in attending these meetings please contact us at info@retailenergycode.co.uk by 12th August 2022 with a brief description of your relevant experience and expertise.
Please note that we intend to keep this as a small, dynamic and representative group that can respond quickly and autonomously both in meetings and offline. While all nominations received are appreciated, not all will be accepted depending on the volume of nominations and the breadth/depth of expertise from nominees.
If you would like to discuss any specific areas of changes required to the REC or REC services as a result of MHHS we would be happy to hear from you and discuss any insights or questions you have. Please contact Jonathan Hawkins our MHHS project lead.
