Ofgem has given the green light to SP Energy Networks (SPEN) to access household electricity data from smart meters.
In a letter Ofgem’s head of DSO and whole system coordination Louise van Rensburg said the authority had approved SPEN’s data privacy plan.
Following the approval, SPEN will have the right to collect and process domestic smart meter consumption data which relates to a period of less than one month, according to the procedures laid out in its plan.
She added SPEN will access such data via the Data Communications Company (DCC) on a regular, scheduled basis.
Ofgem said it reserves the right to check compliance at short notice “in order to ensure that the practices, procedures and system proposed by SPEN are being implemented according to the plan and to a satisfactory standard”.
Van Rensburg added: “Should any change occur in their practices as stated in the data privacy plan, SPEN have an obligation to communicate such changes to us in a timely manner and must amend and resubmit their plan to us for further assessment.”
According to the Data Communications Company (DCC), more than 4.5 million second-generation SMETS2 devices have been installed on the network and almost 578,000 first-generation SMETS1 devices have been migrated.
In total 21.5 million smart and advanced meters had been installed in homes and small businesses in Great Britain as of 31 March 2020.