This consultation seeks to publish the count of Metering Systems per DNO (Distribution Network Operator) and IDNO (Independent Distribution Network Operator) under a BSC Open Data Licence. This will improve the visibility of the DNO market.
Who will this impact?
The approval of publishing the data items within this consultation under a BSC Open Data Licence will provide new data to all BSC Data users.
In particular, this will impact BSC Parties with the role of:
- DNO (Distribution Network Operator)
- IDNO (Independent DIstribution Network Operator)
What is proposed?
The data requested would give a rough indication of total customer base size (by number rather than capacity) of the different DNOs. A single snapshot of the data provided on a quarterly basis would allow the industry to see the progress being made by IDNOs in introducing competition into the connection market. Furthermore, this would give some indication of changes to market competition levels and some transparency on IDNO growth (an area where transparency on IDNOs is even worse than for DNOs).
What data will this impact?
Our assessment and recommended Classifications of the data items within the Open Data Request are summarised in the Table below. Each data item has been assessed on the criteria defined within the Process for Requesting BSC Data Code Subsidiary Document.
Table: Data items and their recommended Classification
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Data Item
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Elexon Recommendation
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Rationale
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Total number of MPANs per DNO
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Open
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The data item does not identify any particular consumer through MPAN identification. Elexon see no sensitivity related to this item and a benefit to industry to publish.
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Total number of MPANs per IDNO
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Open
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The data item does not identify any particular consumer through MPAN identification. Elexon see no sensitivity related to this item and a benefit to industry to publish.
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Once these data items are deemed Open, Elexon will scope publishing these data items in the Trading Operations Report through a csv and a Power BI visualisation which will be updated on a quarterly basis.
Recommendation
Elexon recommends all data items contained within DR712203 be Classified as Open and published under the BSC Open Data Licence.
Background to this proposal
On 3 December 2021, Elexon received an Open Data Request to openly publish a snapshot of the latest total number of MPANs per individual DNO and IDNO. The BSCCo. have assessed these two data items which aim to provide better visibility of market growth and competition.
Initial triage and classification
Elexon’s initial assessment of the requested data set
Elexon have assessed each data item on the four triage categories:
- Consumer Privacy – A person who can be identified from the information requested – either directly or indirectly in combination with other information
- Negative Consumer Impact – Likely to drive actions that will negatively impact consumers
- Security – Creates incremental, or exacerbates existing, security issues which cannot be mitigated via sensible security protocols such as physical site security, robust cyber security or buffer databases
- Commercial – Relates to the private administration of a business or, data not collected as part of an obligation by a regulated monopoly and would not have been originated or captured without the activity of the organisation
Elexon found no issues with publishing all the data items when assessing against the four triaging categories. The data items only relate to the total number of MPANs and have no attribution to individual consumers.
The different classifications that can be applied to a dataset being processed through the Open Data Request service can be found in the Open Data Request Classification part of the Open Data Request webpage. This also contains templates for licences of each classification, in this case the Open Data Licence will be used.
Proposed mitigation
How Elexon proposes to mitigate the data to make it more open (if applicable) and what the subsequent triage and classification shall be
Elexon will apply no further mitigation techniques to the data items requested as there are no sensitivity issues contained in the data when aggregated to a total number of MPANs by DNO/IDNO identifier.
Benefits and Impacts
What will be the benefits to BSC Parties, wider industry, and/or requester should the requested data be released
Elexon has considered the findings of the Electricity Data Taskforce: A Strategy for a Modern Digitalised Energy System when assessing the benefits of publishing data contained within an Open Data Request. When assessing the data items contained within Request DR712203 these findings are of significance:
Maximising the value of data
Supplying these data items under a BSC Open Data Licence will allow the industry to see the competition introduced by IDNOs with DNOs. This would indicate the level of growth of IDNOs within each geographical distribution network and allow for better tracking and modelling of the distribution network.
Visibility of data
This data, despite not impacting individual consumers, is not published. By publishing under an Open Data Licence, customers will be able to share and provide insight into the data. This will lead to increased visibility.
What will be the impacts to BSC Parties, wider industry, and/or requester should the requested data be released
Some stakeholders to whom the data pertains may have a desire for the data items to not be published under the Open classification. However, Elexon believes no commercial or competitive benefit can be gained by either DNO/IDNO through the Open publication of this data.
However, for completeness, Elexon will be notifying these stakeholders of this Industry Consultation and seeking any disagreement on publishing these figures under an Open Data Licence.
Duplication & Coupling
Duplication: Whether Elexon is aware of similar data sets produced by themselves or other organisations
Elexon has assessed the data already available through it’s own publications and other industry providers. Elexon are not aware of any Open publications of the data items contained in DR712203.
Coupling: Whether the data set could be coupled with other data sets (published by Elexon or others) for commercial, nefarious or other purposes
Elexon have not identified any datasets with which the data items within DR712203 could be coupled for commercial, nefarious or other purposes.
Risk & Costs
What (if any) will be the risk to Settlement, Elexon and Industry members as applicable
Elexon do not perceive any risks to Settlement through the publication of this data.
What will be the cost for the Elexon in terms of time and money to create the data set. This will include BSC agent costs as well as any ongoing costs if applicable.
Elexon receives the requested data items through existing data pipelines. By using the Trading Operations Report for delivery, Elexon do not foresee any extra or ongoing costs to providing the data items within DR712203.
Periodicity & Review Period
Periodicity: Whether the data set is proposed to be re-published at given intervals, or as a one-off
Elexon will publish the number of MPANs per DNO/IDNO in the Trading Operations Report through a csv file and a Power BI visualisation which will provide a snapshot of the data items on a quarterly basis.
Review period: How often the BCB should review whether the data set remains extant or whether it will be published in perpetuity to be reviewed by exception
The data sets contained within this Open Data Request will be published in perpetuity and the Elexon propose this dataset not be reviewed by the BCB unless requested via an Open Data Request.
