Smart Meters - HH Consumption Data

[Deleted User]

Ofgem has just issued a Decision requiring all domestic and micro business smart meters to be switched to HH consumption data no later than 2025. Domestic consumers only will retain the right to Opt Out. This is a 180 degree change from having to Opt In for HH consumption data recording. The change applies to both import and export meters (usually the same meter with 2 MPANs.)

Quote: MHHS will place the right incentives on retailers to develop and offer new tariffs and innovations that encourage and enable more flexible use of energy, such as time of use tariffs, automation, vehicle to grid solutions and battery storage. We estimate that our chosen option for MHHS will deliver net benefits to GB energy consumers in the range of £1,559m-£4,509m over the period 2021-2045. Unquote

Reed_Richards

For the uninitiated:
HH = Half Hour or Half Hourly
MHHS = Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement - somebody else will have to explain what that actually means.

MWT

Reed_Richards said:

MHHS = Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement - somebody else will have to explain what that actually means.

Currently the energy suppliers are not fully exposed to the real cost of the energy consumed by their customers at the half-hour level as they get to use estimates when reconciling actual use against the power they have pre-purchased in those half-hour blocks.

Changing the default to allow collection of the half-hour data means they will have to reconcile using actual consumption wherever possible.

The aim of this is to provide an incentive to wider adoption of Tine of Use tariffs.

Right now most suppliers do not offer anything more sophisticated than E7 but under the plans for MHHS that is likely to have to change as the suppliers will not be able to ignore the real cost of the peak time use of their customers.

I guess the sub-text is that if you are a customer you have significant use in the peak periods the future is likely to get more expensive for you, but if you don't have large peak time loads you will be able to save more...

Chino

MWT said:

I guess the sub-text is that if you are a customer you have significant use in the peak periods the future is likely to get more expensive for you, but if you don't have large peak time loads you will be able to save more...

So at least this change should only penalise those people who use energy washing and cooking in the morning and use energy cooking and washing in the evening...

One more benefit of smart metering. As if a £500+ per household levy wasn't benefit enough.

oldagetraveller1

"So at least this change should only penalise those people who use energy washing and cooking in the morning and use energy cooking and washing in the evening..."

How dare they! Looks like many will have to  resort to 3am cooking and washing then?

Gerry1

And how long will it be before they renege on the promise that you can opt out of HH metering, just like they did with the undertakings repeatedly given to Parliament that smart meters would be optional? 

MWT

Gerry1 said:

And how long will it be before they renege on the promise that you can opt out of HH metering, just like they did with the undertakings repeatedly given to Parliament that smart meters would be optional? 

Before that it is more likely that you'll see the pricing of flat rate tariffs steadily rising in comparison to ToU tariffs so more people will want to stay opted in.

It will get more and more expensive to deliberately remain without a smart meter opted in to HH data.

Still some time to go yet though as there are a few hurdles remaining to be addressed in areas or buildings where smart meters do not currently work, but once those are sorted I'd expect the pressure to get stronger quite quickly.

[Deleted User]

Gerry1 said:

And how long will it be before they renege on the promise that you can opt out of HH metering, just like they did with the undertakings repeatedly given to Parliament that smart meters would be optional? 

You and I both know that once smart meters have achieved a certain level of adoption, then Government policy will change. At the moment, there is no need for enforcement legislation as constant supplier pressure and cheaper smart meter tariffs appear to be working. We are now at 40% smart meter saturation and should be well above 50% by the end of this year.

[Deleted User]

oldagetraveller1 said:

"So at least this change should only penalise those people who use energy washing and cooking in the morning and use energy cooking and washing in the evening..."

How dare they! Looks like many will have to  resort to 3am cooking and washing then?

Expect to see more of this sometime soon. BEIS has recently spent £400K on developing a smart tariff comparison tool. No doubt PCWs are working on something similar. ToU tariffs need not cost you more than you are paying at the moment: you just have to use your appliances sensibly. For example, I was on a tariff that gave me 5 hours of electricity at 5.5p/kWh starting at 8.30pm. My wife had the washing done before bedtime. The rest of the time, the cost was 14.62p/kWh which is cheaper than most fixed tariffs at the moment.

Gerry1

Dolor said:

Gerry1 said:

And how long will it be before they renege on the promise that you can opt out of HH metering, just like they did with the undertakings repeatedly given to Parliament that smart meters would be optional? 

You and I both know that once smart meters have achieved a certain level of adoption, then Government policy will change.

Yup, you can never trust any politician to keep a promise.  Gotcha.

MartinGreenwood

Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS) will allow the electricity industry to move way from average consumption profiles for customers to using half hourly data.

Currently domestic and small business electricity use is modelled on a small number of average usage profiles. Obviously when you add up what was supplied and what was used they are not the same because of the use of average profiles. So the use of half hourly data will improve this and means that suppliers will have a more accurate wholesale energy bill.

This could improve customers' bills as the commercial risk for suppliers is slightly reduced.

This does not change tariffs for customers or what data customers allow their smart meters to send unless they agree.