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UtILItY WeeK | 17th - 23rd OctOber 2014 2013 | 9 Utility Week research the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), observed: "There is the need for the tight reg- ulation of the market, but [it] also requires a level of commercial reality to ensure that the operators have the flexibility to adapt to the demands of what they highlight as their key stakeholder –the customer." 2. Smart metering We asked energy networks how confident they were that smart metering would deliver a series of named benefits, using a 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (extremely confident) scale. Respondents displayed worryingly little confidence in smart meter benefits overall. The highest scoring element was improved distribution network extension planning, where half of all respondents gave a 4 or 5 out of 5 ranking. Two-fihs gave 4 or 5 out of 5 rankings to improved energy management, flexible tar- iffs and VoltVar optimisation. The other potential benefits listed attracted dismal support. Of note are the only 8 per cent who were confident smart metering would deliver the government's predicted £7.3 billion boost to the UK econ- omy over the next 20 years and the 33 per cent who felt smart metering would improve outage management. Better outage management has been trumpeted as a key sell of smart metering for networks, so this low confidence figure will be disappointing to those promoting the rollout. Probing a little beyond smart meters into smart grids, distribution network opera- tors (DNOs) indicated they could cope with a move over to smart grids: 67 per cent said their business had a "framework for the smart grid transformation from planning to deployment with metrics deployed to track progress periodically". However, only 33 per cent agreed the industry was "ready to reap the envisaged benefits of smart meters and low-carbon technologies". 3. Connections The thorny area of connections is the final challenge to 2023 Utility Week and Tata Con- sultancy Services asked about. Historic issues here include unsatisfac- tory customer service standards and limited competition from independent connections providers, which is particularly problematic in the electricity market. We asked networks to rank a list of priori- ties for their connections businesses. Unsurprisingly, improving customer ser- vice and overall engagement was ranked most highly, with three-quarters of respond- ents positioning it as their top priority, and the remainder saying it was their second highest priority. This is an encouraging sentiment from the industry, which if followed through should lead to better service for new customers. There was little to separate the priority afforded to the other options listed, all of which ranked on average 3 out of 5. These included: enhancing network planning and design; significant investment to improve IT capabilities such as work scheduling or self service; and improving contractor rela- expert view from tcs: need for data governance In the Regulatory Instruction and Guidance regime, Ofgem collects data from DNOs across various categories like finance, opex, capex, repex, assets details, output, QoS, etc. DNOs will also have to comply with a new data assurance licence condition and the Data Assurance Guidance. As the onus is on the DNO to ensure the integrity of data submitted to Ofgem, DNOs have to undertake data quality improvement and introduce better data governing processes to ensure the accuracy, completeness and timely submission of that data. expert View from tcs: model driven predictive approach The smart metering rollout is not geo- graphical but will be discrete, driven by supplier priorities. The smart meter data will thus not necessarily be directly usable to derive insight on network planning or optimisation. DNOs will need an innova- tive model-driven predictive approach to unlock early value from smart meter data. Some of the scepticism on smart data usage may be alleviated through use of the smarter data handling techniques available. 1 not at all confident 2 3 4 5 extremely confident On a scale of 1 to 5, how confident are you that smart metering and the DCC will bring each of the following benefits? Improved energy management with more accurate supply and demand forecasting Flexible tariffs that manage consumption over set time periods A £7.3bn boost to the UK's economy over the next 20 years Distribution network expansion planning VoltVar optimisation Enhanced ability to sell power back to the grid through microgeneration Improved outage management Vegetation management DNOs are ready to reap the envisaged benefits of smart meters and low-carbon technologies My business has a framework for the smart grid transformation from planning to deployment with metrics defined to track progress periodically 42% 17% 33% 25% 33% 33% 8% 8% 50% 17% 33% 20% 40% 40% 17% 17% 50% 17% 17% 33% 33% 42% 17% 17% 50% 17% 50% 17% 33% 8% 42% 8% 17% 33% 67% smaRt meteR cOnfIdence centRes On eneRgy management and plannIng Confident dOubt aROund whetheR dnOs wIll Reap benefIts 67% 33% Strongly disagree disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree 42% 41% 8% 50% 40% 33% 17% 0% How strongly do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? Agree