SMART METERING DATA GUIDE

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1 SMART METERING DATA GUIDE

2 About this guide This guide tells you what information we collect from smart meters and how we use it. It also sets out your rights and choices for smart metering information. Smart meters usually record meter readings every 30 minutes and store them for 13 months. This provides much more detail about your energy use than ever before. What information do you take from my smart meter? We collect information about the supply of energy to your home and your energy use, as well as making sure your meter is working properly. We ll always tell you what we ll use the information for and the choices you have over whether or not you want us to collect and use it. What do you do with the information from my smart meter? We may use this information to: bill you for the energy you use manage the supply of energy to your home help us (and the energy industry) become more efficient in how we operate improve our customer service manage the products and services we provide to you, as well as developing new ones help you reduce your energy use, including giving you energy efficiency advice prevent and detect energy theft and manage how your smart meters work manage debt and credit risk from your energy bills develop and manage energy supply and demand. If we need information for anything else we ll let you know, along with the choices you have for how this information is used. When and how will you collect information from my smart meter? We may offer you an In-Home Display (IHD) or Consumer Access Device (CAD) with your smart meter, which lets you see how much energy you re using in near real time. We won t be able to see this information. We ll only collect the information we need and have told you about, and we ll tell you how often we ll collect it.

3 We don t take information about your energy use in real time (we won t be able to see the exact time you used energy, just the total amount used between two meter readings), unless we need to for a product or service you ve agreed to take. We might need to take information from your smart meter to help you with a query on your account we ll tell you if we need to do this. We won t take information about the energy use of individual appliances in your home, unless we need to for a product or service you ve agreed to take. We get the information from your meter securely, without anyone needing to visit your home to read your meter. We may still need to visit from time to time to carry out a safety inspection, or to read, repair or replace the meter if there s a problem with it. Who else can see the information from my smart meter? We might share the information from your smart meter with: organisations and agents who help us provide your products and services other organisations in the energy industry, such as network companies, who help manage energy supply, distribution or central industry systems if necessary, the police or other organisations, including industry bodies involved in preventing and detecting theft or fraud, in accordance with data protection law. We won t sell information from your smart meter to any third parties, unless you agree that we can. Wherever possible, we ll tell you if we need to give any other party information about you. How will you keep me up to date about the information you use from my smart meter? We ll tell you what your information will be used for before we fit your smart meter, including any information that s given to you when your smart meter is being installed. If we change the way your information is used, or if we need to use it for different purposes, we ll tell you (in advance wherever possible). If necessary, we ll highlight any choices you have over whether to accept these changes. What choices do I have and when can I make them? We ll tell you the choices you have about how we collect and use information from your smart meter. As a minimum, this will include the chance to ask us not to collect and use half hourly meter readings if they re not needed for your contract or legal reasons. You can choose how we collect and use your information at any time, before or after your smart meter is installed, including when we tell you about any changes to how your information is collected or used. We ll give you details of who to contact about this.

4 What will you do to protect my information? We ll protect the information from your smart meters using encryption, controlled access and other appropriate security measures, including those agreed with the government. Only authorised members of trained staff will be able to access the information from your smart meter and it will only be kept for as long as it s needed, then deleted. If you decide to switch energy supplier, we ll still be able to see your smart meter data from the period we supplied you, but we won t be able to access any new information from the date your new supplier takes over. Any third parties who hold your information on our behalf will follow the same standards to safeguard your information and we ll be responsible for how they use your information. Your rights We won t use information from smart meters to market products or services to you if you ve asked us not to. We won t give third parties your information for their own marketing purposes without your agreement. If your IHD or CAD is able to receive messages, you can ask us not to send you any marketing messages through it. We ll tell you how you can see the energy usage information stored on your smart meters, which you can access free of charge. You may need to buy extra equipment to access data directly from your smart meter we ll tell you if you need to. You can ask for a copy of any personal information that we hold about you. We ll tell you who to contact to get this information and if you ll have to pay a charge for it. If we hold any information about you that you think is wrong, we ll also tell you who to contact to put it right. If you have a complaint We ll tell you who to contact if you have a complaint and we ll always follow approved complaint handling procedures to help resolve any query you may have as quickly as possible. This includes complaints to the Energy Ombudsman. If you re not happy with our response to your complaint about the way information from your smart meter has been used, you can raise it with the Information Commissioner s Office (the ICO).

5 Is there anything I need to agree to, to get a Pay As You Go (PAYG) meter? If you re on our PAYG tariff, you agree to share your information from your meter (so you can pay online, by text or with our app) both with us and with other companies we trust. If you don t want us to have that information but you still want a prepayment meter, you can have a cash one instead. To opt out of sharing your data with us please call us on and we ll discuss what you need to do. The Data Protection Act 1998 sets out rights and obligations about the use of personal data for more information go to the website of the Information Commissioner s Office at