Settlements company Elexon has proposed a suite of changes intended to speed up, simplify and reduce the cost and time burden of changing the rules governing the energy industry.
Electricity and gas supply and delivery is governed under 11 codes – sets of rules that cover different aspects of the activity, such as connecting to the network or managing data flows. But updating the codes is cumbersome and slow, making it difficult for them to meet changing circumstances and acting as a barrier both to new entrants and innovatuion.
How to reform the codes is a key issue under debate by the industry, its regulators and government.
Now Elexon has put forward a set of proposals that could be delivered by using the current rule change process.
Proposals include:
- Limit rule change proposal variants to two. Elexon notes that in one case 80 alternatives to a rule change had to be considered
- Convene industry workgroups at a later stage in developing change proposals, so the groups can be more effective
- Ensure all codes have an ‘Issues’ process that can deal with some problems or solutions without launching slow, formal change proposals
- Avoid multiple consultations on rule changes, aiming for one only for each rule change
- Include ‘gates’ in major change proposals where Ofgem – which makes the final decision – gives a view on whether the proposal might be accepted. This would avoid resources being used on proposals that will never be accepted and reduce the number of proposals ‘sent back’ by Ofgem for more work
Further reading
Gemserv offers online access to Smart Energy Code
Cusc change could give new entrants a bigger voice in power system evolution
New ‘DSO entity’ will underpin Europe-wide standards, but UK will be a rule taker
Industry governance: building a new model