Ofgem has approved a request by UK Power Networks (UKPN) to collect and process half-hourly consumption data from domestic smart meters.
The company will be allowed to retrieve monthly batches of information from the Data Communications Company.
Although it will initially be attributable to individual supply points, the data will be immediately aggregated by UKPN once handed over. It will be held for a period of seven years before being deleted.
The request was detailed in a data privacy plan submitted by the firm in December, which said the information will be used to generate load profiles for substations, feeders and sections of feeders.
UKPN said this will give it greater visibility over when and where energy is used, especially on the low voltage network, and enable it to make more informed decisions regarding network planning, asset management and new connections.
Access to the data will also avoid the need to install monitoring equipment at substations, which according to the company is both time-consuming and expensive.
Announcing the decision in an open letter to stakeholders, Ofgem wrote: “UKPN 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 the plan. UKPN will access such data via the Data Communications Company on a regular, scheduled basis.
“We reserve the right to check compliance at short notice in order to ensure that the practices, procedures and system proposed by UKPN are being implemented according to the plan and to a satisfactory standard.”
The regulator approved a similar request from Western Power Distribution in July 2018.