In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with Utility Week timed to coincide with the release of the DCC’s first four-year business plan, DCC managing director Jonathan Simcock dismissed claims that foundation meters, which are being installed across the country, pose a “massive risk” to the programme.
He said the meters, which meet the first set of technical specifications for the smart meter rollout but not the second, could be integrated into the DCC’s network, despite technical limitations. He promised to publish a feasibility report outlining ways to prevent foundation meters becoming “stranded assets” in the second half of this year.
However, the business plan reveals that customers who have had foundation meters installed with be locked out of the DCC network until at least 2018, limiting their capabilities to switch supplier and keep smart functionality.
Simcock insisted the DCC is on track to go live on August 2016, the latest in a series of start dates – though he acknowledged remaining “risks and uncertainties” that mean the date could still be pushed back. He said the DCC is working “really hard” to meet the timeframe but the network would not be taken live “unless it is right”.
The full interview with Jonathan Simcock will appear in next week’s issue of Utility Week