Change Consultations

P375 proposes using Metering Equipment ‘behind’ the defined Boundary Point for Balancing Services (‘behind the Meter’), for Settlement purposes rather than the Boundary Point Meter.

This will allow balancing-related services on-site to be separated from imbalance-related activities, more accurately reflecting the balancing-energy volumes provided by the Balancing Service Provider (BSP).

P375 arose from Issue 70 ‘Settlement of Secondary BM Units using metering at the asset’.

In June 2019 the Energy Data Task Force (EDTF) published its report ‘A Strategy for a Modern Digitalised Energy System’. One of its recommendations was that the energy sector should ‘adopt the principle that Energy System Data should be Presumed Open’. The EDTF report recommends that BEIS and/or Ofgem should use legislative and regulatory powers to achieve this recommendation.

The BSC does not fully adhere to open data principles however, by taking action now, we can remain at the forefront of industry development and will be able to create the precedence for industry to follow/emulate.

P398 proposes amending the BSC so that all data is assumed open unless there is a reason otherwise. The Panel (or delegated Sub-Committee) will determine if there is any reason not to make data available. This will be done based on a transparent process of triage and categorisation. In the longer term, we will look at an IT solution to make accessing BSC data even easier than having to make a formal request for release/publication.

P399 seeks to include additional information in the Balancing Services Adjustment Data (BSAD) to identify the assets involved in bilateral trades.

Currently, each Balancing Adjustment Action taken outside the Balancing Mechanism is reported with a unique sequential number. The Proposer contends that this does not identify the counterparty to the bilateral trade and creates an information advantage to those counterparties, reducing transparency in the operation of the system creating a barrier to effective competition.

P397 seeks to introduce a mechanism through which the Balancing and Settlement Code Company (BSCCo) determines whether Licensed Distribution System Operators (LDSOs), the National Electricicty Transmission System Operator (NETSO), certain Party Agents and BSC Agents, and BSCCo should carry out the Settlement Adjustment Processes following a DCE. BSCCo would determine the nature of the DCE and, where necessary, determine and compare the costs and value of the DCE in order to determine whether the value of carrying out the Settlement Adjustment Processes outweigh the costs.

Responses to the P411 Report Phase Consultation are invited by 29 July 2020.