New Smart Meter Wholesaler Hub Given Go Ahead

The green light has been given by the Strategic Panel for a new hub to be set up that will enable water sector wholesalers to share non-domestic customer smart meter readings with retailers more efficiently, with the aim being to ensure that water leaks are identified and tackled more effectively, as well as verifying that bills are timely and accurate.

Unlike traditional water meters, which are usually only read twice a year, smart meters are able to take hourly meter readings, giving wholesalers and retailers alike a far more detailed picture of water usage and consumption.

Interest in this new technology is gathering pace, with wholesalers rolling out meters to over ten million customers between now and 2030, including to almost 800,000 business sites.

The Strategic Panel has been working with MOSL (the market operator for the non-household retail market in England) to identify how best to share meter readings, whether that be through allowing wholesalers to develop their own processes, set up a trust framework or launch a central data sharing hub.

The decision was taken that the hub would be the most effective strategy, costing an estimated £1.1 million to build and funded through market performance charges.

The first phase is expected to be complete by the end of March next year, with the second phase connecting the hub to the central marketing operating system (CMOS) so that retailers can submit readings directly into the central system for billing and settlements.

Finally, further engagement will be delivered with trading partners to confirm detailed requirements, with additional details on this due to be announced separately.

Trisha McAauley, chair of the Strategic Panel, said: “Having a central hub for this information will provide a consistent approach to sharing smart meter reads, while allowing trading parties to submit or extract data in different ways and formats, depending on their needs, capability and budget.

“The hub will also help retailers select and submit reads into the market’s central systems efficiently and provide the controls necessary to manage the high volume of submissions entering CMOS.”

How can smart meters benefit businesses?

One of the top priorities for any business will be how to keep overheads down – and, for many companies, water bills represent a very significant cost indeed. As such, identifying the best water-saving strategies for your organisation and adjusting these over time as the needs of your business evolve is paramount.

Automated meter reading is one of the best ways to achieve maximum savings on water, where a technique known as data logging is used to monitor water usage across your premises continuously.

Smart meters are installed to track water usage at hourly intervals by measuring water flow. If a sudden spike in flow is identified, it’s a signal that there’s a problem somewhere on site, such as a water leak.

This means you can be more immediate in your response, dealing with potential issues in real time before they become seriously problematic – and more expensive to resolve. This is especially important for issues like leakages, which are one of the biggest problems facing the water sector, with three million litres of water lost in this way each day.

You may not even know if you have a problem and you could be wasting lots of water completely unawares, water that you’ll ultimately be paying for even though you’re not using it.

You’re also able to break your water usage down by building, department shift, tenant and equipment, so you’ll enjoy a far more detailed analysis and review of how and where you use resources. This in turn enables you to identify weak areas across your site so you know where to focus your attention, driving up efficiency and productivity gains alike.

It costs around £700 or thereabouts to install a smart water meter on top of your main water meter onsite, but the investment will pay for itself in no time.

The information and data you gather can be used to make your site more sustainable and water efficient, as well as saving you money and time – so it’s a real win-win.

If you’d like to find out more about automated meter reading and how it could benefit your business, helping to save you money on your business water bills, get in touch with the Switch Water Supplier team today.