On 13 May 2019 the Data Communications Company (DCC) published a consultation on a new System Capacity Testing Approach Document (SCTAD) for SMETS1 Services. The SCTAD is produced pursuant to clauses 3.1 – 3.3 of the SMETS1 SEC Variation Testing Approach Document. The consultation closed on 31 May 2019 and nine responses were received by the DCC. The DCC published their response on 27 June 2019.

Following consideration of stakeholder responses, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have decided to approve the SCTAD.

The Government response to this consultation and associated SCTAD can be found here. The SCTAD can also be found on our Developing SEC page.

Where can I find further information?

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact the SEC Change Team on 020 7090 7755 or email sec.change@gemserv.com.

BEIS has issued a consultation on amendments to a number of licence conditions to support the special administration arrangements for the DCC introduced as part of the 2018 Smart Meters Act. The affected licences include standard conditions of electricity supply licences, gas shipper licences and transmission licences as well as a special condition of National Grid’s gas transportation licence and the DCC licence.

A letter introducing the consultation and explaining the proposal and rationale in more detail can be found here.

How can I respond to this consultation?

Please send your responses or any enquiries to smartmetering@beis.gov.uk.

Or

Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Delivery
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,
2nd floor,
1 Victoria Street,
London,
SW1H 0ET

The deadline for responses to this consultation is 5pm Friday 9 August 2019.

BEIS direction on the incorporation of SEC Schedule 8 ‘GBCS v3.2’, Schedule 9 ‘SMETS2 v4.2’ and re-designation of Schedule 11 ‘TS Applicability Tables’ (TSAT).

The BEIS letter also provides the Government response to the associated previous CR-085 consultation published on 15 May and the timing of TSAT designation published on 13 June.

The letter and associated annexes can be found here. This letter constitutes the Direction for bringing these documents into the SEC on 4 July 2019.

Where can I find further information?

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the changes to the SEC further, please contact the SEC Change Team on 020 7090 7755 or email SEC.Change@gemserv.com.

BEIS have issued a consultation on amendments to Smart Energy Code (SEC) Subsidiary Documents (SSDs) to support go live of initial DCC SMETS1 Service operating capability to enable the enrolment and operation of SMETS1 devices in the DCC’s national communications network. This is to support the interoperability of these devices when consumers change energy supplier. The consultation also covers the date on which the SSDs annexed to the BEIS consultation letter are to be incorporated into the SEC.

A letter introducing the consultation and explaining the proposal and rationale in more detail can be found here.

How can I respond to this consultation?

Please send your responses or any enquiries to  smartmetering@beis.gov.uk.

or

Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Delivery
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,
2^nd floor,
1 Victoria Street,
London,
SW1H 0ET

The deadline for responses to this consultation is 5pm Tuesday 9 July 2019.

On 13 June BEIS issued a letter to SEC Parties, Ofgem, TBDG and other interested parties responding to the consultation on SMETS2 v2.0 and SMETS2 v3.1 Installation Validity Period (IVP) and Maintenance Validity period (MVP) end dates, issued on 22 May 2019.

There is also a further consultation on the date for the re-designation of SEC Schedule 11 ‘TS Applicability Tables’ (TSAT).

The deadline for responses to this consultation is Thursday 27 June 2019.

Full details can be found here.

How can I respond to this consultation?

Please send your responses or any comments to smartmetering@beis.gov.uk; or

Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Delivery
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,
2^nd floor,
1 Victoria Street,
London,
SW1H 0ET

A Government consultation on a proposal to direct the Data and Communications Company (DCC) to provide Enduring Change of Supplier (ECoS) arrangements for smart meters (SMETS2 and enrolled SMETS1 smart meters).  The consultation document is included at Annex A of the covering letter.

The existing, Transitional Change of Supplier (TCoS) arrangements for changing energy suppliers’ security credentials were put in place on a temporary basis.  Our proposed enduring approach in this consultation (ECoS Option 2) builds on TCoS by avoiding reliance on the energy supplier who is losing the customer to process the change of security credentials, while also putting in place greater separation from the Data Services Provider (DSP) and providing independent access to registration.

This preferred option has been arrived and based upon the analysis in the DCC report included at Annex B of the covering letter.  The report finds that ECoS2 is the superior option for putting in place a sufficiently robust enduring solution when assessed against cost, complexity and delivery risk.  In addition, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) were also consulted on the security aspects of both options and have confirmed that ECoS2 represents an appropriate enduring solution from a security perspective.

Full details can be found here.

How can I respond to this consultation?
Please send your responses or any comments to smartmetering@beis.gov.uk

or

Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Delivery
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,
2^nd floor,
1 Victoria Street,
London,
SW1H 0ET

The deadline for responses to this consultation is 5pm Thursday 27 June 2019.

A consultation on proposed changes to the Installation Validity Period (IVP) end date for SMETS2 v2.0 equipment, the setting of an IVP end date for SMETS2 v3.1 equipment and the setting of Maintenance Validity Period (MVP) end dates to SMETS2 v2.0 & SMETS2 v3.1 equipment.

This consultation does not propose to change any IVP or MVP values for CHTS.  As GBCS v3.1 has never been used in production devices, it is proposed all content will be removed from that specification when GVCS v3.2 is designated.

Full details of changes proposed can be found here.

How can I respond to this consultation?
Please send your responses or any comments to smartmetering@beis.gov.uk

or

Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Delivery
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,
2^nd floor,
1 Victoria Street,
London,
SW1H 0ET

The deadline for responses to this consultation is Wednesday 5 June 2019.

The baselined GBCS v3.2 Draft 1 and the designated SMETS2 v4.1 require changes to support industry’s preferred approach to processing Emergency Credit across SMETS Devices.  This will create a new GBCS v3.2 Draft 2 and SMETS2 v4.2 Draft 1.  It is proposed that these documents will initially be baselined in June and then designated in the Smart Energy Code (SEC) on 4 July 2019.  The proposals also refer to the consequential changes to SEC Schedule 11 ‘Technical Specification Applicability Tables’.

As GBCS v3.1 has never been used in production devices, it is proposed all content will be removed from that specification when GBCS v3.2 is designated.

This uplift prepares the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) led technical documentation changes for required Emergency Credit changes, ensuring that the Technical Specifications and GBCS are available for a Data Communications Company (DCC) release on 7 November 2019.

Full details of the proposed changes can be found here.

How can I respond to this consultation?

Please send your responses or any enquiries to smartmetering@beis.gov.uk

or

Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Delivery
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,
2^nd floor,
1 Victoria Street,
London,
SW1H 0ET

The deadline for responses to this consultation is Wednesday 29 May 2019.

On 26 March 2019 BEIS published a consultation seeking stakeholder views on proposed amendments to Section G of the Smart Energy Code (SEC) related to Cryptographic Processing in respect of SMETS1 Devices, and to Section F of the SEC in relation to the contents of the SMETS1 Pending Product Combinations list alongside consequential changes to Section F2.10A.

Following consideration of stakeholder responses, BEIS has now published its conclusions and has laid the regulatory changes to the main body of the SEC and the energy supply licence conditions before Parliament, in line with the procedure under section 89 of the Energy Act 2008.

The government response letter and associated documents can be found here.

On 26 March 2019 BEIS issued a consultation letter to Ofgem, the SEC Panel, SEC Parties and other interested parties seeking views on proposed amendments to Section G of the Smart Energy Code (SEC) related to Cryptographic Processing in respect of SMETS1 Devices, and to Section F of the SEC in relation to the contents of the SMETS1 Pending Product Combinations list.

Any responses to this consultation should be submitted by Tuesday 16 April 2019 to: smartmetering@beis.gov.uk.

• Consultation Letter
• Annex A: Draft SEC Section G amendments
• Annex B: Draft SEC Section F amendments