P494 & Data Access: What TPIs need to know
P494 intends to improve access to energy data across the market, but there are important considerations for Third Party Intermediaries (TPIs).
P494 is a proposed change to the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) that introduces a new central Smart Data Repository (SDR).
The SDR is a central platform that will store electricity consumption data from domestic and non-domestic supplies in all 3 market segments: Advanced, Smart and Unmetered meters.
A Consumer Consent Solution (CCS) is also being developed under the Retail Energy Code (REC) to allow domestic customers to grant and manage access to their data with GDPR in mind.
What are the concerns around P494?
The key concern lies in the domestic CCS model transitioning to the non-domestic market.
As currently designed, the CCS relies on site-level authorisation for domestic supplies.
While this approach may work in the domestic market, it does not reflect how data access operates in non-domestic environments.
In the non-domestic space, TPIs often act under delegated authority for large, multi-site organisations.
Requiring site-by-site consent would restrict or slow access to essential consumption data for TPIs.
”Put simply: non-domestic consent models are fundamentally different and need to be treated as such.
Head of Policy & Regulation, StarkJames Murphy
What does P494 actually change for TPIs?
It’s important to note that the SDR does not replace existing routes to data; it simply creates another one.
TPIs can continue to work with providers like Stark to access consumption data at source, before it enters the SDR.
This means your current processes don’t need to change.
What should TPIs do now?
The good news: no immediate action is required, provided you:
- Continue to appoint Stark as your data agent across all market segments (Advanced, Smart & Unmetered)
- Continue to appoint Stark as your metering agent
- Continue to access data via Stark ID or existing transfer methods
This will mean there will be:
- No material changes to your day-to-day operations
- No change to how you access Day+1 data
- No disruption to your existing workflows
The good news: no immediate action is required, provided you:
- Continue to appoint Stark as your data agent across all market segments (Advanced, Smart & Unmetered)
- Continue to appoint Stark as your metering agent
- Continue to access data via Stark ID or existing transfer methods
This will mean there will be:
- No material changes to your day-to-day operations
- No change to how you access Day+1 data
- No disruption to your existing workflows
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