Ofwat has approved a code change in the non-household sector to make wholesalers responsible for water meter casings. This, water retailers said, will remove market frictions by speeding up the process of reading meters.
The change relates to the housing around a meter, rather than the meter asset itself which undisputedly is recognised as the responsibility of the wholesaler.
The change was proposed by Wave, as part of the strategic metering committee. Claire Stanness, head of metering operations manager at Wave told Utility Week the proposal was intended to bring much needed consistency to the meter reading process. Currently, issues arise when third-party meter readers are unclear about ownership of meter casings. When these are damaged or disputed the process to resolve a problem is made lengthier by lack of clarity about who has responsibility for it.
“We really needed clarification because there was quite a few different interpretations of what the wholesaler considered to be their responsibility in relation to meter chambers versus those of retailers,” Stanness said.
She said clarity across trading parties about the housing for meters would reduce persistent market frictions by speeding up the meter read process. This is particularly relevant to meters in the long unread and hard to read classifications, some of which have not been read since before the 2017 market opening.
Stanness explained customers are routinely impacted by delays to the bilateral processes caused by not knowing if the retailer or wholesaler is responsible. Readings are then delayed, which impacts accuracy of bills and increases frustrations felt by billpayers.
Third parties are often contracted to read meters. When they encounter a problem such as a buried or damaged meter, they submit a bilateral request to repair it. Without clarity of ownership, these requests were often delayed, with the meter left unread while the dispute between trading parties is resolved.
“We’re hoping this will bring a more collaborative approach between retailers and wholesalers, which will bring better outcomes for customers,” Stanness said.
Market operator MOSL, and committees made up from involved trading parties, have worked to iron out fric