Citizens Advice response to Ofgem’s consultation on Data Communications Company (DCC) price control

Citizens Advice response to DCC price control, January 2016 170 KB

Citizens Advice are pleased to respond to Ofgem’s consultation on how the Data Communications Company (DCC) price control has functioned in the regulatory year 2014/15.The DCC was set up to manage the collection and transfer of data associated with smart meters. In our response, we recommended that Ofgem not meet the DCC’s request for increased risk-related revenues (ultimately paid for by consumers), because it should have had a realistic expectation regarding its risk profile when it submitted its bid for this work as part of a competitive process.We also recommended that - as its functions mature - the DCC’s price control be regulated ex-ante (requiring it to forecast costs ahead of incurring them) rather than ex-post (invoicing for costs that it had already incurred), because the former will better incentivise the DCC to incur the lowest costs possible.