First Utility calls for data obligations to be ‘toughened up’

Independent supplier First Utility wants more rigorous supplier obligations for updating the main industry systems holding customer data.

First Utility’s chief financial officer Darren Braham said that due to suppliers not fulfilling their obligations, inaccurate data and illegal meters are presenting a major barrier to independent growth, affecting customer experience and increasing costs for suppliers.

Braham said: “The fundamental problem is the data in the system is not accurate and up to date.”

First Utility is calling for more serious consequences for suppliers who fail to meet their data quality obligations. He also wants the previous supplier to be held accountable for necessary meter replacements when customers switch.

He said problem of inaccurate data is particularly affecting independent suppliers because “by definition all our customers have gone through a change of supply process and we are in every single incidence reliant on industry systems and industry data in order to ensure a smooth path for our customers joining us.”

Braham also said there is “significant cost” in replacing an illegal meter which should have been replaced by the previous supplier.

Extra Energy has also reported a lax attitude in the market to metering obligations.

Managing director for operations Ben Jones said: “There were obligations to update certain meters by the mid-point of 2014 but we still see some meters from other suppliers that haven’t yet been replaced. There’s a degree of obligation not being met that seems to be going unnoticed in the market.”

Jones warned that although the problem is affecting independent suppliers currently, all suppliers can expect their operational costs to rise from inaccurate data as switching increases in the future.

“The more switching that happens in the market the more every supplier will be forced to ensure that the data quality is good because the gain and the loss process will become a bigger and bigger part of every suppliers’ operational business.”

Jones said the solution has to come from “everybody taking ownership for their own portfolio. Unfortunately not all suppliers are active in validating and cleansing their portfolio so as a consequence there is a lot of ‘dirty data’ in the market.”