Ofwat consults on mandating use of the Smart Meter Read Hub

(by Karma Loveday)

Ofwat is consulting until 16 October on mandating that wholesalers and retailers use the new Smart Meter Read (SMR) Hub by 7 December.

The regulator is minded to accept code change proposals CPM064 and CPW165. These provide for: 

• Making the SMR Hub a central market system, operated by MOSL and integrated with CMOS, to provide assurance that it will be managed under the established market framework.

• Mandating its use by wholesalers and retailers. Wholesalers will be required to submit hourly smart AMI meter reads into the Hub, and one eligible read per month will be automatically transmitted from the Hub to CMOS on behalf of retailers. Retailers will be able to configure the dates of read submissions. They will also retain control over data validation and will be able to pause submissions to investigate data quality issues where necessary. 

• Providing data protection governance to replace the Interim User Agreement.

The changes are intended to ensure the hub becomes the default method for sharing smart meter reads and submitting cyclic reads into CMOS – thereby increasing the use of actual reads for settlement and customer billing.