From volume to value: Top themes from our metering and field ops webinar

As the smart rollout matures, GSOP penalties and Market-wide half-hourly settlement (MHHS) mean the definition of success is changing. It’s becoming less about rollout volumes, and more about getting the most from the meters already on the walls.

Suppliers, network operators and field partners who have operating models, contracts and targets built around smart rollout may struggle if they don’t adapt. That could include resource aligned with rollout activity, processes that are no longer fast enough, or automation designed for a different operating environment.

As MHHS makes meter performance more visible than ever, non-communicating meters can have a much greater impact on the bottom line.

So how can organisations address the key challenges and minimise commercial risk? We asked that (and more) in our latest webinar. Panellists included:

• Grant Qualey, Operations Director at Callisen
• Adam Downing, Head of Metering Services at SSE Energy Solutions
• Tania Rameswaran, Senior Manager at BFY Group
• David Watson, Principal in Strategy and Commercial at BFY Group
• And host Craig Sutherland, Manager at BFY Group

In this article, we’ll focus on the panel’s aspirations and discussions about opportunities, instead of dwelling too much on the challenges.

Meter health and performance

We can all agree with Grant that the focus is shifting away from the delivery challenge of smart meters to their ongoing performance. We need to get the most value out of those ‘boxes on the wall’ for organisations, the wider industry and to benefit customers. But how?

This leads us nicely into the opportunity that the panel kept coming back to all through the webinar: data.

Data

Quality over quantity

Most people would agree that the data problem across the industry is not the lack of it, but the quality of it and access to it. Bad data affects both operational and commercial decisions, including workforce and account management. 

Shifting away from the delivery challenge of smart meters to their ongoing performance means organisations need to get the most value out of those ‘boxes on the wall.’ For their business, the wider industry and to benefit customers. 

Conversely, while poor-quality data undermines confidence in every decision built on it, data still has super problem-solving potential. Including unlocking better value upstream and downstream.

“If we're able to get that [data quality and access] right, it unlocks so many more opportunities. It enables us to be more efficient.” Adam Downing, SSE.

David Watson went further, explaining how organisations and the industry could progress “from reactive fixing to proactive meter health management.” 

“Most people have that data today but we're still not seeing everybody using it to predict where meters are going to fail, prioritise interventions, and therefore prevent costs.” David Watson, BFY Group

AI integration

AI could play a big role here. In improving the biggest challenges across the industry and for individual organisations across the value chain.

“A lot of activity is still triggered by failures, customer issues, scheduled activities, but the data that we have, and with advances in technology and AI, there's a real opportunity to get ahead of the problems rather than responding to them.” Grant Qualey, Callisen 

Organisations could predict meter health (degradation, connectivity, performance) to prioritise intervention and help them manage their portfolios. They could also optimise when and where to send engineers to minimise aborts or revisits. Grant shared two fantastic examples of how Callisen is piloting AI-assisted technology in the planning and completion of meter installations and upgrades. Watch the webinar for the full explanation.

Data insights for action

With or without AI, quality data is a powerful tool which could and should drive action. Whether it’s improving operational performance, customer service, product design or intervention, organisations who fail to act on their data will struggle.

Collaboration

The panel posed collaboration as a key way to overcome some of the biggest challenges and frustrations across the industry. 

KPIs differ across the industry and work against each other. Retailers assess success by measuring settlement accuracy, financial exposure to GSOP and billing validation. However field agents and asset managers look at field performance, technical portfolio health and asset lifecycle maintenance. 

Add in the technical considerations of MAPs, DNOs and DCC and there’s no surprise that failures often happen in the gaps, because everyone has different priorities.

Shared accountability

“Performance is an end-to-end problem, but accountability is still fragmented.” Grant Qualey, Callisen 

Grant’s quote summed up a lot of the discussion. Accountability across the value chain is a driver for completing smart rollout, MHHS and future works. But the panel suggested we need to go further to reach the aspirations across the industry.

“Until we align incentives and measures across the value chain, we'll keep getting pockets of good performance, but not consistently great outcomes.” Grant Qualey, Callisen.

Shared workforce

Adam Downing was quick to push back on complacency with the strategic shift. The rollout isn't over; what's left is the hardest part.

“The low-hanging fruit's gone, and as an industry we've back-ended all of that difficult to do stuff.” Adam Downing, SSE.

The last 28% of installs are complex or in hard-to-reach areas, so close collaboration and skills sharing are critical. Instead of suppliers each sending an engineer to customers in a challenging location, could a single engineer do the work for all suppliers?

“We see a big opportunity around things like pooling of resources and activity across those organisations, and a much stronger focus on delivering one effective visit for the customer, rather than having multiple fragmented interventions.” Grant Qualey, Callisen.

With 3G sunset, comms hub replacements, Alt-HAN and Virtual WAN, field resource is going to become an even bigger headache.

Collaboration could unlock the end-to-end performance challenges, but it’s still important to remember the practicalities. Whether it’s for the benefit of the industry, individual organisations, the journey to net zero, the end customer, or them all.

Operational improvements

While some of these opportunities may seem a way off, organisations should assess their own possibilities today. Afterall, the commercial risk increases along with a sharp board-level focus.

“Meter performance and meter issues are no longer just the purview of the head of metering within a supplier. It's something the CFO is interested in.” David Watson, BFY Group.

Organisations are held back from improving if they don’t have a clear view of portfolio performance because they will always rely on reactive measures. There’s a risk of prioritising immediate pressures instead of the strategic end-to-end performance. So, the critical first step is assessing what’s already in place and what’s needed to meet the extra complexity.

Next steps

Full industry-wide collaboration may still be some way off. But there's plenty organisations can do today to get more value from their assets. Whether they act alone, or even better, with their supply chain.

Host Craig Sutherland offered a fitting summary:

We’ll also continue the conversation and share our insights on metering and field operations. Over the coming months, we'll go deeper into the themes raised in this session, including performance accountability, risk-sharing commercial models, and the move towards predictive meter health management.

If you’d like to explore how to get more value from your assets, contact David Watson.