DCC proposes ‘game-changing’ data exchange

An “interoperability checker” allowing SMETS1 smart meter customers to check if they can switch supplier and retain smart functionality is due to be launched by the Data Communications Company (DCC).

The move was revealed in a discussion paper titled Data for Good in which the DCC proposes a system which would give secure, free (or at cost) access to system data from its platform.

DCC says it plans to start by opening up smart meter system data in a “secure, fair and equitable way” to allow organisations to analyse and combine it with other data for the “purposes of public good”.

It believes such a system, which it said could be game-changing, could accelerate the UK’s efforts to reach net zero and pave the way to support major improvements to public services, such as a move to remote healthcare where treatments or monitoring do not necessitate visiting a hospital or GP surgery.

DCC added that integrating datasets to steer policy, regulation and planning will:

• Help to assess the impact of a new energy system
• Enhance existing models, planning for low-carbon heating
• Understand how economic events or even extreme weather affects consumer behaviour, supplier switching or interaction with prepayment meters

As an example of how it can harness a data sharing approach, DCC outlines work it has done with Citizens Advice to create the interoperability checker – a tool that uses system data to help consumers understand what type of meter they have.

Issues with interoperability have been a major setback for the smart meter rollout, leading to consumer distrust and negative media coverage.

Due to launch soon as its first Application Programming Interface (API), DCC said the tool will help customers with a first-generation smart meter (SMETS1) to check whether they can switch supplier and have their devices retain smart functionality.

Writing in a foreword to the report Angus Flett, chief executive of the DCC, said: “In Great Britain, smart meters and the digitisation of the energy system present an unrivalled source of data. As the company that manages the smart meter network we are uniquely placed as a single source for our platform’s system data and, as such, we have a critical role to play in making it work harder for everyone.

“Our data strategy today is about giving the best possible access to that system data, with the correct permissions and bound by industry leading security to facilitate innovation on an immense scale – accelerating climate change solutions and ensuring that as much public benefit as possible is realised.”

To do this, Flett added, the DCC also believes that data access via its systems must be “at cost and not for profit”.

“The big prize is social good and decarbonisation. Due to our unique position in the energy sector, we have an unrivalled capability and it is our duty to ensure we maximise the benefits it can bring for society,” he said.

DCC added it cannot, nor should it, undertake such work in isolation and is calling on feedback from industry stakeholders.