Third-party access to smart meter data: recent failures
Many of those who are used to retrieving their usage data from third parties have noticed an interruption in the service recently. For me, it started on 13 June and has yet to be resolved.
Third parties (called ‘other users’ by DCC) are supposed to be able, with the customer’s permission, to contact a smart meter and retrieve usage and tariff data stored in it, which they can then present in a friendly form and also make it possible to download the data. This is in many cases a more efficient system than what suppliers offer via their websites.
So far, we’ve heard from customers using n3rgy and Hugo, and also apps like Loop which piggyback on n3rgy to get the data. It appears that only those with Aclara meters are affected, although this may be a red herring: all of the affected customers I’ve come across have indeed Aclara meters, but another common factor is the communications hub - in all cases WNC. Both n3rgy and Hugo say that their credentials are not being accepted when they try to retrieve data, which suggests a fault with the secure DCC network rather than the meter itself.
- Can the mods get an update on this error from those responsible?
- Will anyone having this problem please reply here and say so?
It would help if you could give your region (the first two digits of the 13-digit MPAN), your supplier, the time stamp of the last data packet received and the make and model of the meter and the communications hub. Here are my details for starters:
| Region | 11 (East Midlands) |
| Supplier | OVO |
| Meter | Aclara SGM 1416B |
| CH | WNC SKU1 |
| Last data packet | 13/06/2024 03:00 |
