Technically assuring parties and devices

Technical Assurance of Metering

Metering companies are responsible for installing, maintaining, and enabling the reading of energy meters. These devices play a crucial role in accurately measuring consumption and enabling billing. Technical Assurance of metering companies involves ensuring the accuracy and security of meters, as well as compliance with regulatory standards.

Metering accuracy is paramount in energy markets. Consumers rely on accurate meter readings for billing, and discrepancies can erode trust and confidence. Companies rely on accurate data for settlement and balancing purposes and failures in this area can lead to financially and regulatory impacts.

Technical Assurance of metering refers to the set of measures, processes, and standards put in place to ensure the accurate, reliable, and secure measurement of energy consumption at the consumer level. It’s crucial for various reasons, including billing accuracy, balancing and settlement, grid management, consumer protection, and the overall efficiency of the energy markets.

It’s important to note that the standards for Metering accuracy may evolve over time to adapt to changes in technology, market dynamics, and regulatory requirements and may even be driven by risk versus cost / benefit appetites. Energy market companies, including suppliers, metering companies, and network operators, are expected to adhere to the rules and regulations to ensure the accurate measurement of consumption and to protect the interests of consumers and with this brings benefits for market participants in the form of confidence that they are complying successful and mitigating any risk to their financial position or reputation. Consumers can seek assistance or raise concerns with regulatory authorities if they believe that their rights are not being upheld.

Technical Assurance of Parties and Processes

The companies involved in the supply chain between energy source, distribution and then delivery to consumers vary from energy suppliers, metering companies, data collection and aggregation through to shipping and distribution and we refer to them, in this instance, as parties. Part of the role of Technical Assurance involves regulatory oversight to ensure safety, infrastructure maintenance, fair competition, financial stability, and compliance with market rules for all aspects of that supply chain.

As part of a performance assurance framework, data can be collated to support monitoring and reporting that can, in turn, identify a weak or broken process, or a below target level of performance of a party or group of parties.

In these cases, Technical Assurance of parties and processes can be used to detect where industry is (and indeed where it is not) meeting the rules and regulations that are designed to facilitate the markets e.g. change of supplier processes. It can be applied as standard across all parties and processes, though it is most effective when intelligently collated information allows for Technical Assurance processes to:

• Define the problem in the process or performance level: identify the issues via reporting (regular or ad-hoc, qualitative or quantitative)
• Review the process or performance level: investigate using audit, interview, sampling and reporting
• Improve the process or performance level: workshop and recommend solutions or fixes through engagement with parties and in line with best practice and required performance targets.
• Verify the improvements made: through ongoing reporting, close monitoring post solution or fix implementation.
• Embed the solutions into BAU: ensure all appropriate change has been through the correct channels e.g. change management procedures, party integration and acceptance testing et al.

This particular type of Technical Assurance can be used in a very wide and varied format and generally consists of investigation and audit of a process or party, based on the specific area of interest or poor performance. The outcome leads to performance improvements and, potentially, process improvements and industry change. In turn this can lead to innovation and smarter working practices.

How Technical Assurance helps innovation and can act as a catalyst for change

Regulatory authorities and other central market bodies continuously monitor their markets to detect irregularities or non-compliance, using a Performance Assurance Framework (a structured set of processes and methodologies to assess, monitor, and ensure the performance of a system in achieving its objectives and desired outcomes. A systematic approach that helps in managing and improving performance over time). For example:

• Performance monitoring measures can lead to deeper investigations through Technical Assurance audits on processes that have been identified as problematic. It’s used as a tool to identify ‘why’ a process is not working as needed to enable innovation and process improvement.
• For example investigation into the quality of data held about a meter led to an industry wide process change whereby validation rules were applied to data fields, thereby ensuring only specific types of data could be entered against a particular meter.
• Energy market companies may be subject to audits, inspections, and performance assessments to ensure ongoing Technical Assurance of their individual systems and processes, and this includes assessment of the accuracy and quality of the tools and systems used to provide metering services.

We have seen issues arising that have no clear resolution, though are impacting on the quality of billing for consumers. In these cases there have been specific workgroups set up to further look at how to address such issues, this in turn has led to significant industry changes and process improvements and later innovations, such as the ability the ability to record meter installation details electronically on a handheld device as the meter is installed.

How is Technical assurance applied to energy markets?

This big picture is this:

• Consumers require accurate bills for the energy that they are consuming, the prices they pay should be competitive and allow for the consumer to choose, and the services they receive should be best practice and in line with rules and regulations.
• Companies require accurate, timely and quality data for balancing and settlement purposes.
• Companies operating within the energy markets need to be operationally ‘healthy’ enough in order to continue operating to the standards they are required to, enable investment into energy markets and infrastructure, and to be a viable operating business.

These things cannot happen if:

• The energy meters do not operate effectively and within centrally agreed and obligated parameters.
• The energy market design processes that are in place are ineffective or mismanaged.
• The energy market is using data that is of poor quality or is poorly controlled.