Building the foundations of the digital energy sector - Data best practice

Update by Charles Clark our Senior Manager for Data Policy and Regulation

Today marks the publication of our decision to update Data Best Practice Guidance.?

?Data Best Practice represents Ofgem’s intent to create underpinning principles for the treatment of data across the energy sector. This consultation aims to; open up aggregated smart meter data to innovators to develop the new solutions needed in the future; to provide the transparency that will enable flexibility markets; and to improve the quality and utility of network licensee data.?

Digitalisation is the foundation of almost all of the routes to a Net Zero energy system. Without consistent, reliable, and interoperable data; it will be impossible to track the deployment of low-carbon assets on the energy system. It’s become our touchstone in the Ofgem Digitalisation and Decentralisation team that “If we can measure it, we can manage it.” This management will allow the energy sector to evolve in a way that reduces costs for consumers.?

The Energy Data and Energy Digitalisation Taskforces (Energy Data Taskforce | A Modern Digitalised Energy System (catapult.org.uk) & Energy Digitalisation Taskforce publishes recommendations for a digitalised Net Zero energy system - Energy Systems Catapult) have given the industry a direction of travel on digitalisation, including Ofgem’s role in setting expectations.?

In 2021, we published the first iteration of Data Best Practice Guidance (Decision on Data Best Practice Guidance and Digitalisation Strategy and Action Plan Guidance | Ofgem). This principles-based regulation was intended to ensure data is treated as a valuable asset by the energy sector, and used effectively for the good of all, and the public interest. It was designed as less-prescriptive guidance which would allow industry to synergise and develop common interoperable standards in areas such as taxonomy, glossary, metadata standards, and licences. This included the principle that Energy System Data was to be Presumed Open, i.e. all data is open data by default with restrictions on sharing if the information is identified as sensitive. ?

Over the last 18 months, we have monitored the implementation of Data Best Practice closely through bilateral engagement and workshops with licensees and interested parties, calls for input, and consultations. We have come to the conclusion that there is industry appetite for greater clarity, increased specificity, and clearer direction of travel from Ofgem. This was reflected in our consultation responses, with our proposals receiving the support of 94% of respondents.?

We have a responsibility to make our expectations clear. To this end, we added our Intended Outcomes to each principle, adding transparency and specificity to the behaviours we wanted to see from obligated companies. Encouraged by the expressed desire to see decisive leadership from the regulator, we have tightened our focus from purely principles-based regulation towards setting standards in metadata and open data licences.??

Having a clear, recognised standard way of presenting Metadata means that published data can be discovered and compared, like for like, without labour-intensive work to translate. There are multiple standards across sectors, with differing levels of utility and uptake. After comprehensive research, we settled on Dublin Core (DCMI: Home (dublincore.org)) as the best choice for a foundational standard which allowed for ‘value-add’ development and synergies.??

In the past, we had seen the use of restrictive data licences which ascribed IP rights to the originator of the data, or otherwise throttled innovative uses of data through limiting terms of use. By introducing common Open Data licenses, we want to remove these restrictions and maximise the economic value of Energy System Data. Here, we felt that a well understood, internationally recognised standard, such as Creative Commons Licence (CCL) had merits, as did a national standard used by multiple government departments, such as Open Government Licence (OGL). With respondents to the consultation fairly evenly split, we decided that dual-licensing, wherein parties could select either licence, was more appropriate – on the proviso that whichever licence was used, it had to be used in its unadulterated form.??

Optimal use of smart meter data is a challenge facing the industry. We have a rich seam of data, that is not being used effectively for the public good. With DNOs holding aggregated smart meter data under SLC10A, we felt that – while not a perfect solution – treating this aggregated data as Presumed Open would be a significant step towards getting economic value from smart meter data. Here, again, the touchstone of interoperable methodology assures innovators that the data they can surface is treated in the same way across multiple sources.??

Flexibility markets – like all markets – need transparency to build trust, avoid market inefficiencies, and prevent gaming. There are issues coming to light in these nascent markets around publishing standards, particularly between ESO and DNOs. By expecting the ESO and DNOs to treat these data assets as Presumed Open, we hope to see improvements in the granularity and timeliness of information on flex markets being published.??

Data Best Practice Guidance was never going to be a ‘one and done’ piece of regulation. With this publication, we want more than just improved regulation for the critical data which network licensees hold. We aim to plant a flag for the development of data across the rest of the energy sector. In coming months, we will be kick-starting engagement to expand the Data Best Practice principles into other areas of the energy sector, such as Code Bodies, SSES, Heat Networks, and CCUS Transport and Storage companies.??

As more segments of the energy sector come under the aegis of the principles, we will be reviewing and improving the way we regulate data, with a view to Ofgem becoming an agile, data-driven, and digital first regulator, fit for a data-focused future energy system.??

If anything in this article has piqued your interest, and you want to know more about our work, please reach out to [email protected].?