Website to provide updates on competition for commercial metering

The Association of Independent Meter and Data Agents (AIMDA) has launched a website to provide the industry with updates on its work to lobby BEIS and OFGEM to preserve effective competition for non-domestic metering businesses in the UK.

AIMDA is made up of seven of the UK’s largest and competing, independent non-domestic customer metering and data collection businesses. It is actively lobbying OFGEM and BEIS to influence government policy making, and so preserve effective competition for the benefit of the customer in the markets for energy metering and data for business users.

AIMDA is calling for open access to the Data Communications Company (DCC) to ensure that independent UK businesses can continue to offer settlement services and preserve the ability to keep competition and choice for energy customers; not a single provider but multiple service providers to choose from.

The purpose of the new website is to keep the industry abreast of the lobbying AIMDA is undertaking on behalf of the independent, non-domestic energy metering and data businesses in the UK. It lists all of the AIMDA members with contact details and includes all letters issued between AIMDA, BEIS and OFGEM.

Since its establishment in June 2018, the association has been extremely pleased with some of the changes made by BEIS and OFGEM, specifically around advanced metering installations. The association has confirmed that there have been changes to the regulations around advanced metering installations delivering a number of benefits to businesses in the UK with the key benefits being:

• Advanced metering continues to be allowable for all non-microbusiness or group customers. This means that end user customers with larger sites and a selection of smaller sites can continue to install advanced meters to bring data from all sites into a single platform. 
• That these group customer sites can move more quickly to obtain online visibility of their energy data and not delay or hinder their sustainability targets and energy efficiency activities; rather than waiting for SMETS2 to mature. 
• The installation of advanced metering contributes to the energy suppliers 2020 smart meter roll out requirements set by government.

The member companies include: Energy Assets Limited; IMServ Europe Limited; Siemens Managed Services; SMS Plc; Stark Software International Ltd; TMA Data Management Ltd and WPD Smart Metering Ltd.