Energy Market Update

Around 175,000 businesses in the UK are affected by P272, an Ofgem directive requiring electricity suppliers to change the way business customers are billed. If your electricity meter starts with 05, 06, 07 or 08, P272 affects you…

P272 is intended to bring efficiency and accuracy into the energy supply & billing process by enabling the use of smarter, modern technologies and bringing large Non Half-Hourly (NHH) electricity supplies in line with existing Half-Hourly (HH) supplies.

Energy industry regulator, Ofgem believe that P272 will unlock huge potential benefits for commercial energy users, enabling them to shift their electricity load away from peak periods by using technology such as Demand Side Response.

If your electricity meter(s) MPAN has the numbers 05, 06, 07 or 08 in the coloured box, P272 affects you.

After P272 implementation is complete, all Profile Class 05-08 meters will automatically send actual consumption data to suppliers every half hour, enabling faster, more efficient settlement and empowering customers to gain critical understanding of their energy usage.

The introduction of P272 means that if your business has any advanced Non Half Hourly electricity meters in Profile Class 05-08, your organisation has any advanced Non Half Hourly (NHH) electricity meters these will need to go through a Change of Measurement Class (CoMC) to Half Hourly (HH) Settlement by April 2017 (‘Settlement’ is the process suppliers use to purchase electricity to meet demand in each half hour of the day).

  • If your metering setup is 100kW or above, it is Half-Hourly (HH) and your settlement is done using actual consumption data from each half hour period via remote communication with the meter.
  • If your metering setup is below 100kW (NHH Market) settlement is achieved by ‘profiling’ your consumption for any given half hour period against common patterns of usage.

The implications of P272 & P322 for businesses affected is:

  1. You will need to appoint a Meter Operator (MOP) and Data Collector (DCDA) to maintain and read your meter. (If you don’t, your supplier will to take control and appoint its own agents).
  2. You will see new charges appearing on your HH bill, including DUoS and TUoS charges (charges based on the time of day you use energy)
  3. You will have access to your half-hourly energy consumption data
  4. By using a product such as esave’s ensensus energy monitoring platform, you’ll be able to take control of your energy use and mitigate the impact of any addtional charges.

How esave can help:

  • We can ensure you appoint the best value Meter Operator Agreement (MOP) and Data Collector / Aggregator (DC)
  • We will ensure you are using the correct supplier and contract type for your needs
  • We will negotiate for the best prices
  • We will advise you how best to deal with the costs associated with the HH settlement and Use of System charges
  • We will advise you how best to take advantage of the benefits of P272; for example, implementing Demand Side Management, reducing electricity usage and changing consumption behaviour to avoid peak demand times and tariffs
  • We will look after the renewal process for your next electricity contract, ensuring your supplier delivers an electricity tariff based on your HH consumption

The original implementation deadline for P272 was 1st April 2016, however, as a result of concerns about the timescale, the snappily titled P322 amendment was introduced, now requiring all meters to be migrated by 1st April 2017.