TPIs forcing data transparency from suppliers

Third part intermediaries (TPI) are demanding suppliers allow the release of customer information from central systems, according to Electralink.

The operator of the data system said it is seeing increasing pressure from new TPIs on suppliers to release of all the data held relating to a particular customer.

Electralink has just started a trial with the first large commercial electricity customer who has been given access to its industry data to be analysed by a third party.

Consumers requesting their data will generally be large businesses with multiple sites looking for disconnects between the amount of energy they use and what they are actually charged for.

Electralink chief executive Stuart Lacey said: “There’s a lot of innovation in the market around this.”

Currently a supplier can refuse to release the information, but Electralink is in discussion with the DTS User Group to allow certain information to be released without specific permission.

This move to greater transparency will force the quality of data, highlighted by independent suppliers as being the root cause of many customer service issues and a barrier to independent growth, to rapidly improve, Stuart said.

Lacey said: “We are moving into a world where there is much more transparency of industry data which potentially will help solve some data quality issues that bedevil the energy industry. Data quality is still an issue, particularly when it comes to change to supply.

“By making the industry more transparent we are now seeing very fast and accurate feedback on what’s right and wrong.”

In August independent supplier First Utility’s chief financial officer Darren Braham called for more rigorous obligations on suppliers for updating the central systems, citing inaccurate data as a major barrier to independent growth.