Developing an energy smart data scheme

Overview

Increased data sharing has the potential to help meet real life needs that energy customers face on a daily basis. For example, it could help customers find the best tariff based on actual consumption, providing personalised solutions, better services and greater choice while saving them money. Alongside providing real value to customers, data sharing can also deliver significant environmental and economic benefits.

Achieving clean power by 2030 and net zero by 2050 will require a rapid shift away from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable forms of energy generation to balance the grid and provide flexibility, coupled with the electrification of much of our heat and transport demand. Using energy more flexibly has huge benefits for customers by giving them more choice and reducing overall costs.

Smart Data is the process of sharing customer data - at the customer’s request - with authorised third parties (ATPs) in a secure way. Smart Data is a subset of wider data sharing. The key difference with Smart Data is that the data subject gives consent for their data to be used in a way that provides the customer with some value. The ATP will often enhance the customer’s data with broader contextual data, which may be open access or accessed through a commercial licence.

The central objective of Smart Data is to give customers control over the use of their own data, so they can access useful, innovative and personalised products and services from third party providers that cater to their needs.

A Smart Data scheme is the overarching trust framework and structure that provides the rules, standards and agreements that governs data sharing between customers, third parties and data holders. 

This call for evidence seeks to understand the potential for introducing a Smart Data scheme in the energy sector. We want to support customers to make informed choices about their energy needs in an increasingly complex market. An energy smart data scheme could be one route to delivering this aim.

We are seeking stakeholder views on the current energy landscape and the potential scope, opportunities, barriers and risks to developing an energy smart data scheme. This includes seeking views on:

• What we can learn from existing Smart Data schemes in the UK and abroad
• How to foster customer trust, ensure customers are protected and encourage industry participation
• How to define the scope of a scheme - for example, the customer groups, potential use cases and datasets that should be included
• How to design a scheme that is suitable for the specific needs of the energy sector, while also supporting interoperability and cross-sector alignment
• How to implement and deliver a scheme in the wider context of other industry initiatives to support the transition to clean power

Read the call for evidence document on GOV.UK.