On 14 January 2020, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) issued a consultation on a number of matters that require amendments to the standard conditions of gas and electricity supply licences, the DCC licence and the Smart Energy Code (SEC), the Uniform Network Code (UNC) and the Master Registration Agreement (MRA).
- The consultation letter and accompanying annexes can be found here.
Why are BEIS consulting?
This consultation seeks stakeholders’ views on a number of proposals that require amendments to the standard conditions of gas and electricity supply licences, the DCC licence and the SEC, the UNC and the MRA.
More specifically, the changes proposed by this consultation are:
- changes to the Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specification 1 (SMETS1) enrolment obligations in energy suppliers’ licence conditions;
- changes to split the SMETS into individual device specifications so that version numbering and validity dates can be applied to each Device type;
- associated changes to provide for an “incompatibility matrix” rather than the existing “compatibility matrix”;
- changes to the definition of Completion of Implementation in the DCC licence to align with proposed changes to the SEC;
- changes to SEC Section G ‘Security’ to clarify the circumstances in which DCC must use Cryptographic Modules and when it must set Anomaly Detection Thresholds;
- changes to the UNC and MRA to provide for DCC to receive additional information on the number of Advanced Meters each supplier has installed in support of proposed changes to the DCC charging methodology;
- changes to introduce a new type of SMKI Organisation Certificate, that of “XML signing”;
- changes to ensure that the submission of an Exempt Premises List for Alt HAN is optional for energy suppliers and that the provision of Alt HAN Services can commence prior to one being in place;
- changes to introduce a temporary period of time during which the DCC may be required to submit a business case to the Secretary of State for approval prior to procuring any new or amended Relevant Service Capability, and to clarify that spare Relevant Service Capability should not be procured for the purposes of the Permitted Business; and
- a number of minor corrections to the SEC.
Subject to consideration of consultation responses and completion of the appropriate parliamentary process, the changes to licence and code provisions will be introduced using the Secretary of State’s Section 88 Energy Act 2008 powers.
How can I respond to this consultation?
Please send your responses or any enquiries to smartmetering@beis.gov.uk.
Or
Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Regulation
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,
2nd floor,
1 Victoria Street,
London,
SW1H 0ET
The deadline for responses to this consultation is 10am on 18 February 2020.