Another delay has hit the rollout of Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS). The arrival of CR055, which proposes a 6.5 month delay to M10 in the MHHS rollout, might seem like nonsense to a layman, but it will have a drastic impact on UK energy

With a year-long implementation delay already hitting MHHS, it will not come as a huge surprise that the implementation has been pushed back yet again. The M10 milestone, intended as the point in time when Industry Central Services are ready to migrate MPANs, was originally scheduled for March of this year, but Ofgem accepted a change request (CR055) to push it back by 6.5 months.

MHHS will impact the entirety of retail - it's not just one team, in every area from point of supply to debt collection, processes will need to consider potential changes. Clearly, the energy market as a whole was not quite ready for the switchover. What final pushes are needed to get ready for the change?

Getting to grips with systems

Do suppliers really understand their systems well enough to coordinate this overhaul? It might seem presumptuous to ask, but just take a look at an official MHHS diagram:

Easy, right? Or if you live in the real world, nearly incomprehensible. Even if you had a perfect, modern technology architecture, a lot of preparation is going to be required to meet the demands of MHHS.

But most energy retailers do not have perfect, modern architectures. Many suppliers are operating with legacy systems that have evolved through mergers, acquisitions, and regulatory changes, creating a vast technical debt. Internal knowledge gaps exist where key system architects have left, making it challenging to fully understand system dependencies.

The complexity of integrating existing systems: CISs, CRMs, Billing engines, etc., with new MHHS requirements poses a significant risk, particularly as suppliers will need to maintain a dual approach, managing smart and non-smart metering, whether migrated to new systems or on legacy systems.

Cross-departmental coordination will be crucial as the changes affect multiple business units from across the meter to bank process.

Every crisis is an opportunity

Crisis might be overselling it, but the old adage rings true. There’s no better time to revamp your data management than when you are undergoing a major data cleansing programme. The MHHS transition provides a natural catalyst for implementing modern data governance frameworks and technologies.

The program even encourages suppliers to review their data storage and processing capabilities, potentially modernizing their infrastructure. Organizations can use this opportunity to throw out their tired systems and implement technologies that are not only capable of handling the complexities of MHHS but can deliver improvements across the board.

A chance to pull ahead

If anything, the pressure is on suppliers to capitalize on the change, not just migrate and forget. It’s not just about taking the chance to revamp legacy systems - there are plenty of new opportunities from the switch as well. Gorilla energy expert Ryan Dale sums up the chance that MHHS offers:

Foremost is the new granular data that will be available. It presents opportunities for more sophisticated time-of-use tariffs and customer segmentation. There's the potential to implement advanced analytics capabilities alongside the new granular consumption data. Suppliers can develop new products based on consumption patterns and behavioural insights. There's potential for improved customer engagement through more detailed consumption insights and personalized energy advice

With more granular data comes more detail to feed into forecasts. Enhanced forecasting capabilities could lead to better wholesale market positioning and reduced balancing exposure.

The question suppliers need to answer is how they can seize these opportunities while also satisfying the basic needs of data organization for MHHS. The Gorilla platform provides these capabilities. You need a new data layer that can help overhaul data management. You need a pricing solution that can produce new tariffs easily. You need forecasting with granularity and speed. All available in the Gorilla platform.

Ensuring stability during the transition

As mentioned above, MHHS doesn’t just mean managing a new smart system - the smart meter rollout has not completed, so you will need to maintain both HH and NHH data pipelines for several years. Robust change management processes will be necessary to ensure normal operations don’t derail.

Resource allocation becomes crucial as teams need to maintain expertise in both systems. Testing environments must accommodate both data streams to ensure system reliability. The cost implications of maintaining parallel systems need to be factored into business planning and any regulatory engagement.

Summary

Realistically, this blog post is describing events already in motion at energy retailers. It would take a brave operations team not to have taken steps already for one of the biggest changes in UK market history. But at the same time, every party involved in the transition - whether a supplier, a regulator, or other stakeholders - must take some responsibility for the constant delays to the MHHS implementation. Suppliers can fairly claim to have numerous other challenges as they manage market disruption and the energy transition, but at some point they will need to make serious moves to get ready.

If the best time to get started on implementing a data overhaul for MHHS was 2 years ago, then the second best time is today. A major market reform like MHHS has the potential to create winners and losers and your focus can’t just be on getting through it. The ones who thrive are not always those who act early or manage carefully. It’s those who can adapt fast, and use change to their advantage. The key is to understand the route you want to take and ensure you have the tools to navigate that route. Whichever way you go, the Gorilla platform is ready for you. Request a demo today to see our MHHS capabilities in action

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