The End of Estimates: Inside the MHHS Rollout Webinar Q&A

No, M15 is baselined.  M15 remains 7 May 2027, with M16, the cutover to the faster settlement timetable, on 2 July 2027.

The top line updates when the meter migrates from Legacy into MHHS.

We're not changing existing rate structures. A meter currently billed on 1-rate stays 1-rate, 3-rate stays 3-rate, and nothing switches to a 2-rate day/night structure because of MHHS.

MHHS is a change to how meters are settled in the market, not a change to how we price or bill. Rate structure is a commercial and product decision, and it stays one. Half-hourly settlement doesn't force anyone onto two-rate billing and time-of-use structures remain a product choice. If a customer wants to explore a time of use structure, we can explore that with them, but it isn't an automatic consequence of migration.

For customers already under contract, nothing moves mid-term. Contracted unit rates and standing charges stand for the term, and shape fees stay as contracted. Migration is a behind-the-scenes settlement change, not a repricing event.

What does change is the data behind our pricing, and that arrives at renewal rather than at migration. On migration day we hold no actual half-hourly history for a site, so there's nothing truer to price against than the profiled shape we already use. Once roughly a year of real half-hourly data exists, we can price against a site's actual shape rather than an assumed one.

EAC's will remain post migration but will be called Annual Consumption (AC). This will be derived monthly by the Market-Wide Data Service. Until the customer has a full year worth of consumption data available to support the pricing process, we can use the AC and any HH data that may have been provided between migration and renewal to ensure we are pricing accurately.

Suppliers will be able to provide the AC in the same way that they do now for an EAC.

By design, we do this every day. We are predominantly a HH supplier, typically within I&C. We always take HH curves and work out non-commodity & commodity rates accordingly.

With this greater access to data against a profile, this gives customers access to better data, the ability to load shift and gain the benefits that result from it. 

Agreed contracts will be honoured regardless of the meter live date. No contracts needs renegotiating.

A contracted rate is a contracted rate. Where we've agreed unit rates and standing charges, those are what we bill for the term, whether the meter is NHH or HH settled by the time supply starts. Migration is a behind-the-scenes settlement change, not a repricing event, and it doesn't create a right to reopen the agreement in either direction.

There are no specific penalties for customers with traditional meters, however as these meters increase the risk of estimated data in both settlement and billing, they may be priced with a higher risk premium and have a higher risk of reconciliation.

Line loss factors will become DUoS Tariff Id post migration. Whilst the DUoS tariff if will be a different 3 alpha numeric code that historical LLFCs we aren't expecting this to lead to changes in the DUoS charging band each supply sits in.

If a DNO were to amend the charging band for a supply either during the migration process or once they are receiving half hourly data, we would review the commercial implications of that change on a case by case basis and reserve the right to update unit rates or standing charges to reflect the new classification. In each case no change would occur without discussion with the broker or the customer.

No. Estimates are still needed for non-communicative meters. What changes is that the estimates come from the LSS with a refined methodology used to calculate half-hourly data.

The difference in pricing historically will have been largely influenced the high volumes of data and processing associated with half-hourly metering.

This is, however, often offset by more accurate and better pricing as a result of better data which will mean customers see the benefit of that improved data in a more competitive and accurate price which for NHH will have been influenced by assumptions around shape.

The DC and DCC are two different roles, and both still exist throughout the migration to market-wide half-hourly settlement. 

DCC operates the communications infrastructure and secure network used to communicate with the SMART meter. The DC becomes the Smart Data Service (SDS) who will request data via the DCC and then validate it, in much the same way the DC does now, before submitting it into settlement. 

The Data Aggregator role disappears.

Previously, the DC will have submitted the validated data to the DA to enter it into settlement. Going forward, the Smart Data Service will submit the data to the Market-wide Smart Data Service run by Elexon.

Yes, any DNO works would still sit with the customer cost-wise, as they do today. MHHS doesn’t provide any allowance for that.

MHHS itself imposes no penalty for a meter that can't be accessed or located, however it is common for the cost of site visits to be passed through to customers where it can be reasonably expected that access should be provided to the meter or where efforts to resolve an issue preventing remote data collection have not been successful as a result of access issues.

If information regarding the meters location held by metering agents is considered incorrect then we recommend contacting the supplier to have this updated.

At present there are no SMART options for CT metered electricity meters or non (gas meter type) gas meters. As our portfolio is predominately CT and non (gas meter type) gas meters, we've built our operating model around an AMR driven solution so customers have consistency in their metering across their estate.

Where customers have previously had a SMART meter installed this will have been replaced as agreed with the customer. We recognise that many other suppliers are installing SMART meters and have seen a substantial increase in the use of this meter type in multi-site portfolios. Whilst our preference remains to work with customers on AMR solutions, we will be guided by the customers preference should existing SMART solutions be preferred.

For sites with poor signal, they can still migrate without affecting supply. They’d settle using Load Shaping Service estimates until actual reads start coming through.

Before a site is treated as completely unreachable, though, the MOP should look at options such as relocating the aerial or using an alternative comms solution.

The Load Shaping Service will become the fallback wherever actual half-hourly data isn't available for a settlement period. That will cover meters without half-hourly capability, communications failures where data hasn't come through and gaps within an otherwise complete data set. This will commence where needed as soon as an MPAN has been migrated.

The Load Profiling Service is a central service producing half-hourly load shapes from actual consumption data across the market, rather than the fixed profile classes we use today. Those shapes get applied to a site's consumption to produce estimated half-hourly values for settlement. 

The improvement is that the shapes are built from real data being collected across the market and refresh as that dataset increases, so the estimate gets better over time rather than sitting on static assumptions from years ago.

Profile class is not disappearing. It's retained on the top line of the customers supply number.

If you are working with a MOP to provide customers with direct metering agents, our recommendation would be to speak to the MOPs you are working with to understand how this may need to be managed going forward.

Brook Green Supply hasn't migrated any meter points, so cannot advise on this. This question should be raised with the supplier who holds the MPANS.

There may be some unique cases where a NHH meter is CT metered and as a result, carries a capacity. In this eventuality, the meter may receive a capacity charge and a change from LV (No MIC) to LV (With MIC).

This may not be applicable during the first 12 months post migration, with some DNOs referencing this in recent charging statements.

For CT meters migrated under MHHS, the DNO collects 12 months of HH data after migration then reasonably determines an appropriate capacity having regard to the sites maximum demands.

Non-CT meters have no current plans to be subject to an agreed capacity.

To access half-hourly data, you would normally go through whoever holds the customer relationship and the LOA. For most portfolios, that’ll be the supplier. Brook Green Supply are already receiving the data and can share it under the customer’s authority.

You can go directly to the Data Service if the customer has appointed their own agent. However, you would need the customer’s authority, as well as a data-sharing arrangement with that agent.