Axos Systems: Data management in a post DDA worldSponsored
Early in 2021 distributors and traders will be able to do business under the new Default Distributor Agreement. The DDA brings about a number of changes. One of the changes is improved clarity in the provision of consumption data to distributors by traders (Section 12A., Appendix C). This has and continues to be a contentious issue between industry players. On the one hand the information is vital to the improvement of management of the LV network and on the other hand there is perceived risk of the information being used in ways that it wasn’t intended and potentially damaging for traders or consumers.
Industry players don’t intentionally break the rules, guidelines and regulations of the Electricity sector, so we’d like to offer some thoughts to distributors about data management in a post DDA world.
Keep EIEP4 (customer information) stored and managed in systems that are entirely separate from systems that store and manage consumption information
This includes (distributor) billing systems. For community owned networks the only time that it is really necessary to bring these 2 datasets together is to calculate the annual rebate that may be due. Outside of that, there is no need to bring these two datasets together other than using EIEP4 information to assist in responding to outages or matters of public safety.
EIEP4 information does not belong in distributor billing systems and it doesn’t belong in consumption data management systems.
Resist the temptation to store it there.
Keeping the datasets separate allows a distributor to apply differing data governance policies that are easily implementable as the technical constraints of the systems associated with each dataset are decoupled. Put another way, systems that hold Personal Identifying Information need to have strict management controls around them and data management of consumption data and billing data is afforded more flexibility.
Source your data directly from the MEPs
Being closer to the ‘raw truth’ will ensure that if you were to apply the information to managing or understanding the LV network, fewer mistakes will be made. Every time data is transformed or processed, risk is introduced through human error or conflicting assumptions in the algorithms that manipulate the information. There is a certain inconsistency amongst data processors downstream of the MEPs (or even in the MEPs themselves) around validating and estimating missing data – you don’t want these inconsistencies affecting decisions on better managing your assets or your capital programme.
We recommend finding a solution to process ‘raw’ data from the MEPs directly. That solution should provide full transparency on the algorithms used to estimate and fill missing data. It goes without saying that the solution should be able to deal with all the different data-types from MEPs in the market. Having a complete picture is important.
Bill traders based on meter data to reduce conflict
A perverse characteristic of the energy sector is that it is structured so that suppliers (distributors) rely on their customers (traders) to provide them information so that they can invoice them. Talk to anyone outside of the energy sector and explain this and you will be met with raised eyebrows. As a result the need to reconcile inbound information from traders with other information in the marketplace is a complex process. There is a diversity of capability amongst traders to provide reliable and correct information. The issues of complexity, reliability and correctness means that resolving differences within a time-bounded process every month is a great source of tension and sometimes conflict. There’s a variety of causes to this and there’s often a good set of reasons – but this doesn’t make the process any easier.
Combine billing processes and sound data management
Sourcing Data directly from the MEPs to firstly reconcile with inbound EIEP data used by your billing processes is the first step. The next step is to seek agreement from a ‘coalition of the willing’ to opt to use MEP data as a source of distributor billing. It reduces the workload within the trader community to produce EIEP data by business day 5 of the month and it means you can leverage data management processes that you will have already in place. All of this will lead to productive and constructive conversations around reconciliation. Good conversations lead to better business relationships.
Data Management in the 21st century is a strategic decision
Whether this is consumption data, billing data or personal data – approaching this in a strategic way provides a pathway to improved asset management, reduced capital expenditure, improved customer relations and more efficient use of your team’s time. It also means that you won’t be constrained by the data management capabilities of the lowest common denominator in the trader community and able to use a substantial amount of capital in a more effective way.
For more information about data management in a post DDA world, visit https://axos.systems/
