P272 Legislation for Business Energy

P272 is the name given to a new piece of legislation created by Ofgem (the energy regulator) which changes how larger, non-domestic customers are metered and billed. It proposes that Half Hourly (HH) settlement becomes mandatory for all businesses whose electricity meters are in profile classes 05-08, irrespective of their energy supplier.

The legislation aims to make billing and settlement more accurate through the use of each customer’s half hourly (HH) consumption data. The current method of billing using a month end read and non half hourly (NHH) data is not as accurate and masks individual customer behaviour. All meters affected will therefore change from having their energy measured using individual meter reads to HH interval data. This process is commonly referred to as ‘Change of Measurement Class’ (CoMC).

It impacts businesses using electricity meters in industry profile classes 05-08. The profile class 05-08 will then be reclassified to 00 (00 being the profile class for HH supply).

The program starts from the 5th November 2015 and we are obliged to complete the CoMC within 45 working days of supply start (for new business) or contract renewal date. In all cases any meter supplied by TotalEnergies Gas & Power must complete the CoMC prior to 1st April 2017. Other factors such as the ability for meter agents to accommodate demand will also affect the date the CoMC occurs. We are currently working with our agents to formulate an effective plan for the migration of meters from NHH to HH settlement and will communicate the schedule in due course.

We are currently assessing the financial impact of these changes for customers and will communicate any changes required in due course. However agent and distribution charges will change at the point the meters are moved to HH measurement. The charges vary by geographical location, metering agent and meter type. Please read on for some further information on the changes to the charges.

In most cases meters can be reprogrammed remotely and no site visit will be required. However, we envisage that a small proportion of meters will need to be exchanged – this will be confirmed after a visit or analysis by the Meter Operator.

This will be determined by the type of meter that you have, Current Transformer (CT) or Whole Current (WC). Only those customers with CT meters will become subject to capacity charges and you should expect to be contacted by your Distribution Network Operator to agree the connection capacity for each site affected.

In respect of the period from 5th November 2015, rates have been published which can be found on the websites of the relevant distribution businesses. These rates will be subject to final confirmation 40 days prior to the effective date.

Yes, they will change to the published LLF for half hourly meters.

Not initially. For the period up to 1^st April 2017 TNUoS charges will continue to be levied in accordance with their existing NHH charging methodology¹ . From 1^st April 2017 sites will become subject to the HH (Triad) regime.²

Elexon have stated “...customers impacted by P272 who may then become subject to the CRC scheme would not be impacted until Phase 3 comes into effect, which is scheduled to begin in 2019”. However, you should confirm this with DECC as they administer the scheme rules.