Following our previous updates about the new Consumer Data Right (CDR), the ACCC has now published a consultation paper on the proposed data access models for energy data.
The application of the CDR to the energy sector is intended to give consumers more control over their information, which will improve their ability to compare and switch between products and services. This will promote greater competition between service providers, which will ultimately lead to better prices and more innovation in products and services.
Submissions close at 5pm on Friday, 22 March 2019.
The consultation paper is the latest in a long list of initiatives relating to data in the energy sector. These initiatives recognise the critical role of data as an enabler for greater consumer choice, greater security, reliability and affordability in the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Energy data initiatives
As well as the CDR, which is discussed further below, a range of energy sector data initiatives are also underway, including the following:
- The Energy Security Board's NEM Data Strategy – formulating a data strategy in respect of electricity market data collected by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the Australian Energy Market Commission, the Australian Energy Regulatory (AER), the Clean Energy Regulator, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), and the Department of Environment and Energy (DEE) for legislative, regulatory or operational purposes and data given to those bodies by market participants, consumers, or third parties.
- The DEE's, CSIRO's and AEMO's Energy Use Data Model – a data service that provides energy-use data through a central online platform
- ARENA's and CSIRO's Data61's Australian Renewable Energy Mapping Infrastructure – a spatial data platform for the energy industry that provides access to renewable energy and other information to inform energy supply and infrastructure investment decisions
- AEMO's register of distributed energy resources (DER) – following recent changes to the National Electricity Rules, AEMO is required to maintain a register of static data for DER in the NEM, including small scale battery storage systems and solar, and to share certain disaggregated data about the devices in the DER register with network businesses
- AEMO's review of NMI standing data – review of the current NMI standing data with a view to standardising standing data so that all new and replacement metering installations have a full set of critical data
Consumer Data Right
The ACCC's consultation paper on data access models for the CDR in the energy sector follows the significant work undertaken last year by the COAG Energy Council and its consultants HoustonKemp in relation to enhancing consumer access to energy data.
Possible data access models
The ACCC is consulting on the following three data access models that will allow accredited data recipients, with the consent of the consumer, to access consumer data:
- Model 1, centralised model – AEMO will be the sole data holder and will hold a centralised data set and, on request, will provide that data to accredited data recipients. This will require holders of the data to build Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to provide the data to AEMO for storage, and for AEMO to build APIs to provide the data to accredited data recipients.
- Model 2, gateway model – AEMO will provide a gateway function (ie, acting as a pipeline for the provision of data from data holders to accredited data recipients). This will require data holders to build web-based APIs that enable 'on demand' provision of energy data sets, and for AEMO to build a 'gateway' to facilitate the transfer of that data to accredited data recipients.
- Model 3, the economy-wide model – data holders will be responsible for providing CDR data directly to accredited data recipients and/or consumers. This mirrors the model used for the banking sector and will require data holders to build APIs for the delivery of that data.
This differs to the approach taken with respect to the banking sector where a version of the centralised model (Model 1) and the gateway model (Model 2) were not offered for public consultation. The ACCC has indicated that a different approach may be warranted for the energy sector because data is held across a number of organisations.
The ACCC has requested that stakeholders assess the three possible models against specified criteria, being:
- user functionality
- costs effectiveness
- interoperability
- efficiency of relevant markets
- reliability, security and privacy
- flexibility and extensibility
The ACCC has also requested stakeholders' views on the advantages, disadvantages, and participant implementation costs in respect of each of the models.
In the ACCC's CDR consultations in the banking industry, the ACCC stressed its intention to put the consumer at the centre of its considerations when designing the CDR rules and will likely do the same for the energy sector.
Although the ACCC is considering different access models in the energy sector, in other respects, we expect that the CDR rules that the ACCC will develop will be similar to those in the banking sector, for example the process for accrediting data recipients and the privacy protections for consumer data.
Data sets and data holders
Although Treasury has not yet determined what data sets will be subject to the CDR in the energy sector, the ACCC's consultation paper refers to the following possible data sets:
- NMI standing data – data relating to each connection point in the NEM. NMI standing data comprises many different data fields and the ACCC has expressly stated that not all NMI standing data will be subject to the CDR. It is likely that those fields that are of value to consumers in understanding and managing their energy use will be captured, including: average daily load; network tariff code; the presence of controlled load; and metering installation type
- Metering data – data that is collected from a meter and is held in a metering data provider's metering data service database and in AEMO's metering database
- Customer provided data – data that identifies, describes, details, or is about the account holder, including: address and contact details; energy consumption behaviour; and the time period of the account
- Historical billing data
- Retail product data – data that identifies, describes or details products, including: tariffs, usage charges and applicable discounts; products on offer; products taken up; and individually tailored products
- DER register data – data that AEMO will be required to establish following the establishment of a register of DER in the NEM
It is anticipated that Treasury will separately consult on the applicable data sets.
Some of the above data sets are already subject to existing data rights in the energy sector, for example, metering data and historical billing data. The application of the CDR to the energy sector will expand on these rights, providing a more comprehensive regulatory framework to facilitate access by third parties.
In addition to the above data sets, it is possible that the CDR will apply to additional data sets. For example, in its report to the COAG Energy Council, HoustonKemp recommended that the CDR in the energy sector also apply to gas metering data, non-NEM electricity connection point data, electricity and gas retail product data (contract offers), and non-NEM electricity data.
The question of who is a data holder for the purposes of the CDR in the energy sector will depend on the data access model adopted and also on the specified data sets. Based on the above, data holders could include retailers, distributors, AEMO, metering data providers, the AER, and Victoria Energy Compare.
Next steps to implement the CDR for the energy sector
Once the data access model has been chosen, the ACCC will develop energy specific rules, and Data61 will develop technical standards for the energy sector.
In terms of timing, the ACCC is looking to implement the CDR in the energy sector during the first half of 2020. The ACCC anticipates that the CDR will be introduced in phases.
While industry was the subject of extensive consultation ahead of HoustonKemp's report, and has been actively engaged in the implementation of the CDR more generally, the ACCC's consultation paper gives industry a further opportunity to influence the CDR debate, including with respect to the significant system changes that will be required to facilitate the application of the CDR to the energy sector.
Organisations in the telecommunications industry (which has been flagged as the next industry to be captured by the CDR regime) will no doubt be keeping an eye on these developments as well.
MinterEllison can assist organisations in the energy sector who would like to make a submission about the preferred data access model, as well as advise on the CDR and other energy data initiatives more generally.