Summary of DCC B&D Plan 2024/25

Each year the DCC releases an update to its B&D Plan. This is a key document for the DCC, as it sets out the strategy DCC has in place for the next few years. You can read the whole plan, which has just been released, here: dcc-business-and-development-plan-2024-25-vfinal.pdf (smartdcc.co.uk).

It is especially important, as there is a lot of change on the horizon for DCC in the next couple of years. The plan is almost 100 pages long though, so I have read it and provided below a summary of the document sections for your convenience, with some (hopefully) useful links along the way.

• In the CEO foreword, Angus Flett talks about the end of his tenure (note new CEO incoming), but also the objectives of the new Labour government, DCC’s adoption of more standards, a variety of performance metrics over the past year, a number of awards DCC has secured, and progress with procurement exercises (like FSM, DSP, etc), programmes (like 4G-CH&N) and in-life operations at DCC. He also talks about ‘further work to be done’; premises not yet covered by the WAN, the changes being introduced to the license by Ofgem (move to ex-ante/license renewal) and the growing demand for smart meter data.

'The next five years will mark a change in the DCC, with Ofgem working through the details of the future licence.'

• The DCC explainer section provides a new and more detailed view of the ‘connected home’ and the HAN/WAN of the DCC network which services those homes, before providing updated operational performance and scaling metrics; 31.4m connected meters, nearly 19m connected premises, and 2.17b messages sent monthly, all with the network availability at 99.9%. Smart meter data and switching (28.7m switches since CSS went live) get an updated explanation too.
• Section 3 covers the DCC operating context; the landscape DCC operates in and the impact it has on major trends. These include the energy transition (a great summary provided on page 21, with how DCC impacts through demand forecasting and network traffic management, and how DCC is supporting Auto Asset Registration and Smart & Secure Electricity System initiatives) and more about the importance of providing appropriate access to smart meter data inside and outside the energy sector (aligned with the Data for Good initiative).
• Consumer challenges, like fuel poverty, will be addressed with cost efficiency drives and accurate data access. The tech / security landscape is mostly unchanged from last year, other than a mention for DCC’s support for the use of AI in their ecosystem and how risks can be mitigated. Regulation and governance are also covered, mentioning the new ‘Great British Energy’ company, and how the new DCC regulatory model might affect the DCC in the future.
• DCC’s strategy reads unchanged from the 2023/24 plan. Purpose, values and strategic outcomes are consistent. An overview is provided of what DCC operates, there is acknowledgement of the ‘Other Users’ demand for data services, and provision of extended testing services for industry. License renewal is summarised here too, with some interesting views on the key Ofgem positions (e.g. making an argument for holding on to CSS) but only a passing mention of the not-for-profit position.
• The strategic business outcomes section contains some important timeline updates to programmes and initiatives and a ‘total cost summary’ with an interesting cost per meter, over time, prediction; no historic costs provided here, but the ambition to report DCC cost on a unit basis feels like a meaningful measure as they continue to scale.

• Major programmes and initiatives are then given a detailed analysis. These include SMETS1 (migration service ends in September, with some key activities to complete at that point, and the management of SMETS1 meter end-of-life is being planned to cover the next 9 years of transition to retire), 4G Comms Hubs and Networks (with a live pilot planned for the end of the year), PKI-Enduring (contract award soon, with design phase starting before the end of the year), ECoS (noting TCoS being switched off in the next few months, having migrated security keys to ECoS by then), Network Traffic Management (with 15 initiatives in play, Demand Forecast Tooling and Capacity Management Assurance planned too) and Future Connectivity (considering the long term options for maintaining appropriate network connectivity and no-WAN challenges).
• The FSM (the replacement / future service management system) procurement will award contract in September, MHHS functional (SIT) testing is progressing (migration planned for April 2025), and the DSP re-compete procurement also draws to a highly anticipated close in the coming weeks (awarding disaggregated DSP (3 lots) and DSP-SI contracts), with mobilisation for the DBT phase kicking off before the end of the year.
• The Charging Review gets a notable mention (see SECMod DP218); DCC sees a shift in how the service is being used and will be consulting industry (again) on the options, merits and challenges to a potential DCC charging reform. A sub-section covering ‘new customers’ discusses the wider benefit smart meter data can provide and how the DCC (user) onboarding process is being improved to support this demand, with new services like DCC Boxed and the Test Automation Framework (due to go live shortly with new robotics capability).
• Keen to highlight opportunity to maximise value from smart metering, a summary is provided (page 82) on government and industry policies supported by the DCC services (and future services). This covers activities like the provision of anonymised meter data to assist fuel poverty modelling, ‘gold standard’ address data to support AAR and proposals related to the ‘Data for Good’ initiative (e.g. to support energy theft identification).

…and as an appendix, the DCC responds to questions raised in stakeholder engagement / feedback related to the B&D Plan; I thought the most interesting here is the response to the Operating Performance Regime (OPR) question, where DCC have improved the level of detail of information (especially incident and cost information) provided to stakeholders, driven improved ways-of-working and consistency in stakeholder (e.g. SEC committee) engagement, and introduced better business case processes.

Overall, I thought it was a good, comprehensive report, with useful updates on programmes and activities. Probably not enough about costs and charges for some, but the website has much more on that here : Charges | Smart DCC and if you wanted more information about future procurements, the major ones can be found here : Work with the DCC | Supply chain opportunities | Smart DCC.