Issue 50

Customer appointed agents can be defined as, agents (e.g. Meter Operator Agents (MOAs) and Data Collectors (DCs)) that have been chosen or selected by the customer. The Supplier then has to appoint the Customer chosen agent, as opposed to the typical process, as captured under the BSC, of the Supplier selecting and appointing the agent.

The Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) when originally created was designed to support the Supplier Hub principle and to this end is silent on the practice of customer appointed agents. The appointment of agents by customers, outside of the Supplier Hub principle, can cause difficulties for Suppliers who are obligated by the BSC to ensure the performance of the agents appointed by the customer.

The practice of customers choosing their own agent is not a new concept. In this scenario the agent is contracted directly by the customer, without the involvement of the Supplier. This can make managing agent performance & delivering obligations within the BSC very difficult, resulting in a reduction in a Supplier’s ability to manage performance against industry targets and risking non-delivery of specific obligations.

Npower raised Issue 50 to look at the best approach to ensuring that the BSC reflects changes to the industry landscape and places accountability for the delivery of performance measures on the appropriate parties.