Prior to the implementation of REC v2.0 on 1st September 2021, giving effect to Retail Code Consolidation, metering agents were subject to several different Codes of Practice (CoPs) and associated accreditation and audit regimes.
The governance associated with these CoPs was simplified and consolidated under the REC, with a new term of Metering Equipment Manager applying to accredited organisations.
However, this is not a one-size-fits all approach. Organisations may still specialise in aspects of meter installation and/or work in partnership with those who are additionally Qualified under the Market Entry processes which replaced qualification under the BSC. Although Metering Equipment Managers were previously required to adhere to CoPs, they were not Party to the industry codes which governed and generally set out requirements of those documents.
Metering Equipment Managers are Parties to the REC and are integral to the operation of the REC, a Metering Expert Panel has been established for Subject Matter Experts to discuss, advise on, or determine relevant metering issues, and a dedicated seat for a Metering Equipment Manager on the Performance Assurance Board.
In taking a more holistic view of the supply chain, and in particular the custodianship of data through the life cycle of the supply point, the Performance Assurance Board will be able to better mitigate risk to the effective operation of retail processes and address the root cause of any issues.
We recognise metering will also continue to play a significant role in the balancing and settlement of gas and electricity, and are therefore pleased to have representatives of both the Balancing and Settlement Code and the Uniform Network Code on the Performance Assurance Board.
This will facilitate ongoing cooperation and collaboration to also mitigate risks to settlement processes. We hope to extend this cross-code collaboration in the coming year to the Smart Energy Code, where there are common areas of assurance required.
Together with the Code Manager, we will take further steps to simplify and consolidate metering governance where appropriate. The Code Manager recently raised REC Change Proposal R0018, which aims to improve the processes applicable to Complex Sites.
Complex Sites have traditionally been defined under the BSC as those at which the Meter Technical Details are too complex to be captured in standard data flows.
Further to the conclusions of BSC Issue Group 881 and the migration of certain metering provisions from the BSC to the REC, it is hoped that through revision to the REC Metering Operations Schedule these exceptional processes can be clarified and strengthened.
We are also working with Elexon to identify the optimum long-term governance of the current BSC Metering Codes of Practice. These and other issues may have an impact on the requirements that inform our future procurement of a metering accreditation scheme auditor.
The current schemes are delivered through contracts with differing expiry dates. We will shortly procure a scheme auditor to deliver the electricity Code of Practice (MOCOP) requirements for 2022. This short-term arrangement will be on an ‘as is’ basis, consistent with the technical requirements which migrated to the REC unaltered from the former MOCOPA.
We will also engage with the Metering Equipment Managers, other metering stakeholders and the wider market to identify any opportunities to further consolidate and simplify the accreditation regime commencing early 2023.
The focus of this review should be to reduce the cost and administrative burden upon Parties, whilst at the same time strengthening the assurance of the metering activities that can have a significant impact on retail processes and consumer outcomes.
This review should also, as far as possible, consider any relevant technical developments or new requirements emerging from industry programmes or government policy. This will be discussed further in the forthcoming RECCo Strategy for 2022-2025.
1Issue Group 88: Clarification of BSC Arrangements relating to Complex Sites
