Retail Market Assurance Services for the Irish Electricity Market

1. Retail Market Assurance Services for the Irish Electricity Market Niemesh Amin IGG 5th July 2010 niemesh.amin@gemserv.com

2. Agenda • June MDU Update • Assurance Activities • Customer Objections Process • Erroneous Transfers

3. June MDU Update

4. June MDU Update • The cut-over weekend activities were completed • The MPCC upgrade to v16.0 is in the final stages to be completed • Gemserv are to contact Market Participants and gain feedback on their views in relation to the MDU programme

5. June MDU Update • For project closure the next phase is to conduct a lessons learned review with RMDS and ESBN for actions to be considered in future releases • Gemserv will collate this information and present their findings at the next IGG for discussion

6. Assurance Activities

7. Assurance Activities • Finalise and complete the June MDU activities • Liaise with a existing Supplier to extend their operations into a new market segment. • Develop a presentation to outline the Change of Supplier objections process in different Utility Markets that Gemserv have experience in • Conduct research and present statistics on the number of Erroneous Transfers for other markets

8. Customer Objections Process

9. Customer Objections Process • An outline of the Customer Objections process for the following industries • GB Electricity • ROI Gas • GB Gas • Scottish Water

10. Customer Objections Process GB Electricity: Old Supplier objects and is subsequently removed CoS Notify Customer Old Supplier New Supplier Within 5 BDs X Objection CoS Old Supplier New Supplier

11. Customer Objections Process GB Electricity: Old Supplier objects and is not resolved X CoS Notify Customer Old Supplier New Supplier >5 BDs X Objection Old Supplier New Supplier

12. Customer Objections Process GB Electricity • During CoS process the Inbound Supplier can withdraw their registration request • Objections by the Outbound Supplier can be raised during the CoS process. • If the objection is not resolved within 5WDs the CoS process is stopped. • Erroneous Transfer process initiated if wrong MPRN has been used. • Old Supplier bias

13. Customer Objections Process GB Gas: Old Supplier objects and is subsequently removed CoS Old Supplier New Supplier D-7 X Objection CoS Old Supplier New Supplier

14. Customer Objections Process GB Gas: Old Supplier objects and is not resolved X CoS Old Supplier New Supplier >D - 7 X Objection Old Supplier New Supplier

15. Customer Objections Process GB Gas • Similarities to GB Electricity • During CoS process the Inbound Supplier can withdraw their registration request • Objections by the Outbound Supplier can be raised during the CoS process. • If the objection is not resolved within D-7 the CoS process is stopped. • Old Supplier bias

16. Customer Objections Process ROI Gas: CoS Completed and Old Shipper raises an objection CoS Old Supplier New Supplier Objection Old Supplier New Supplier

17. Customer Objections Process ROI Gas • During CoS process the Inbound Shipper can withdraw their registration request • Objections by Outbound Shipper can only be raised after CoS has been completed • Change of Shipper Correction/amendment process is the equivalent of the erroneous transfers process • Market is in early stages of retail competition – processes implemented to promote CoS? • New Supplier bias

18. Customer Objections Process Scottish Water: Old Supplier raises an objection X CoS Old Supplier New Supplier Within 5 BDs Objection Old Supplier New Supplier

19. Customer Objections Process Scottish Water • During CoS process the Inbound Supplier can withdraw their registration request • Objections by the Outbound Supplier can be raised during the CoS process. • The objection must be submitted within 5WDs of loss notification. • CoS process is stopped as soon as an objection has been raised – resubmit registration request for Supply point. • No erroneous transfer process exist • Old Supplier bias

20. Customer Objections Process Summary… • A very high level overview of the processes outlined, considerations to process should include • the level of market maturity • different legislation for different jurisdictions • technical, data and process infrastructure • Most objection processes outlined are Old Supplier biased • Erroneous transfers are still a “feature” of operations

21. Erroneous Transfers

22. Erroneous Transfers Background • Research conducted to provide a view of the number of erroneous transfers in GB Gas and Electricity. • The GB Electricity and Gas Markets opened in 1998 for domestic competition • ROI Market opening took place in 2005 and the statistics presented reflect the similar timeframe of Market maturity • The sample of data is from March 2002 – August 2003.

23. Erroneous Transfers Background • Erroneous Transfer (ET):occurs where a customer had been transferred to a Supplier without a valid contract being in place • Does not include Customers who have changed their mind after switching • In 2002 Ofgem implemented an Erroneous Transfer Customer Charter that outlined Supplier performance levels in relation to resolving ETs and introduced a voluntary compensation scheme for ET Customers

24. Erroneous Transfers Background • The primary root causes identified by Ofgem for ETs were: • proven forgery • Suspected misleading information, fraudulent practice and/or training issues • Incorrect MPAN/MPRN selected • Cancelled contract not actioned

25. Erroneous Transfers Statistics • Electricity • August 2002: 3.9% of total transfers • August 2003: 1.35% of total transfers • Gas • August 2002: 2.5% of total transfers • August 2003: 1.14% of total transfers

26. Erroneous Transfers Figure 1: ET Rate in domestic Gas and Electricity Markets (March 2002 – August 2003)

27. Erroneous Transfers Figure 2: ET root causes in domestic Gas and Electricity Markets (March 2002 – August 2003) Gas Electricity

28. Erroneous Transfers Statistics • The sample timeframe reviewed was based upon the implementation of the Erroneous Transfer Customer Charter protocol and a sufficient timeframe elapsed to demonstrate the impact. • The trend of ETs were reduced as the majority of Suppliers adhered to the protocol. • Upon subsequent review of the protocol, Ofgem reported that Suppliers had made improvements to their operational processes.

29. Erroneous Transfers Potential further analyses… • Compare the current trend of ETs in ROI against the GB Market • Gain an understanding from a Suppliers perspective of the possible route causes of ETs • Review the Market processes for CoS and determine if changes are required to be implemented

30. Reference Ofgem Market Report: Erroneous Transfer Customer Charter – Review Document • http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/MARKETS/RETMKTS/COMPL/CUSTTRANSF/Documents1/5020-Erroneous_Transfer_Review_31oct03.pdf

31. Questions & Discussion