As part of its general mission to help the electricity and natural gas markets function properly, the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has examined, in recent months, the problem of “the data available to network and energy infrastructure operators “. As a result, is has made 15 recommendations for interoperability, good governance and innovation.
Google Data Centre in Iowa – Photo credit: Google in CC
The energy regulator set up a study group that conducted numerous hearings with regulated energy operators, electricity suppliers and generators, consulting and IT services firms, and start-ups in the field of energy and telecommunications. This study group drew up an inventory and a legal and technical typology of the data processed by the network operators. This exhaustive mapping reveals the large volume, complexity and heterogeneity of these data.
The report report resulting from these hearings was the subject of a deliberation by CRE on June 22, 2017.
The report concludes that there is a “profusion” and even a deluge of data. “The world of energy is not immune to this trend. It is even one of the major players because it creates and consumes data extensively. As an illustration, GRTgaz indicates that it collects 28 million data daily on its transmission network. Over the next five years, the deployment of Linky smart meters should lead Enedis to collect 5,000 times more data than it does today. “
Added to this deluge of data, according to CRE, there is “a normative effervescence. “Since 2015, no less than four legislative texts have been published concerning the management and provision of data collected by energy network operators”. These concern, in particular, the obligation of distribution system operators (DSOs) and transmission system operators (TSOs) to make available to public authorities the data necessary for carrying out their tasks provided for in Article 179 of the law on the energy transition for green growth. They also concern the provisions of the law for a Digital Republic with regards the making available to the public by DSOs and TSOs of detailed consumption data and the generalization of sharing obligations public data in an open data format. These legislative provisions for the opening and sharing of energy data have since been supplemented by 8 implementing decrees and 6 decrees, that have either been published or are in the process of being published.
Added to this national normative effervescence, are two important European texts: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of April 27, 2016 and the directive on the computer security of networks of July 6, 2016, which introduces the concept of operator of essential services, and reinforces the IT security obligations of the companies concerned, including those in the energy sector.
According to the CRE, this “datarisation” of the world of energy is both “a source of change and therefore of uncertainties”, “source of innovation for all the actors of the energy world, and even for “and” source of appropriation, for consumers “.
The outcome of this work, is that the CRE has made 15 proposals that can be grouped into four families: the imperative of coherence, quality and interoperability of the data, the clarification of the role of the actors, the consolidation of consumer confidence in the management of their data and finally the legibility of the regulator’s analysis criteria and the predictability of the actions that it will put in place.
Ensuring consistency, quality and interoperability of data
In the first place, the objective of the CRE is to achieve coherence and quality in the provision of data produced by multiple actors under the aegis of many legal regimes.
The CRE proposes that the applicable body of laws and regulations, both complex and exhaustive, “is now tested, to analyze any gaps and necessary developments.” (recommendation n ° 1).
In order to allow all energy suppliers to offer services in the territories served by local distribution companies (LDC), CRE believes that “the deployment of advanced metering systems should be considered as an opportunity for adaptation of the information systems of the network operators which will allow them to harmonize the computer exchanges that they can have with the suppliers. It calls on all distribution system operators to be strongly involved in this convergence process “(Recommendation 2).
The Regulatory Incentive Framework for the Quality of Service of Regulated Energy Operators should also “take into account, in a quantifiable and objective way, the management of data, especially data that is of interest to their main end users” ( Recommendation No. 3).
For the CRE, the technological neutrality and the interoperability of the solutions used are a key determinant of the successful dissemination of data that is made available by operators with a public service monopoly. “It will thus continue to ensure that the use of interoperable standards avoids the capture of end-user data. As such, it recommends that energy suppliers make standardized pricing information available via the local output of advanced electricity metering systems “(Recommendation 4).
Having noted the importance of respecting a timetable for publishing or the frequency of updating certain data, the CRE considers it necessary “to take into account the expectations of data recipients (in particular, producers and personalities). This is why it calls on regulated energy operators to transmit to the CRE, after consultation with the stakeholders, and taking into account the technical feasibility and the level of priority, the list of the main processes for which it would be required to review the frequency and time it takes to make data available “(Recommendation 5).
Clarify roles for an effective governance in the long term
The exploitation of available data by regulated energy operators is, according to CRE, “an unprecedented opportunity to better articulate the energy networks between them, both between the different levels of networks and the different energies, for the benefit of the community. A better knowledge of the production and consumption flows makes it possible both to better size infrastructures and to make better use of them, by simultaneously relying on the complementarity between the different levels of networks and on that between energies “.
CRE therefore considers it necessary “to engage with all stakeholders, public and private, to determine the most acceptable and sustainable regulatory balance to encourage the exploitation of these data and to preserve solidarity between users and between territories “(Recommendation 6).
Regarding the respective roles of energy system stakeholders in the provision of data, the CRE considers that “recent advances in this area have helped to better define the new missions of these players, in particular those of distribution system operators. However, the CRE considers that the boundaries between their respective responsibilities, especially those between distribution system operators and energy suppliers, are sometimes difficult to grasp”. It will “clarify the limits of the responsibilities of network operators vis-à-vis the players in the competitive sector, in particular by defining ancillary services concerning the provision of data and their scope” (recommendation n ° 7 ).
It also recommends that, when a regulated energy operator intends to offer services comparable to those marketed by competitors, “it relies on the same data that is available to energy suppliers and service providers. This activity must be carried out in a legal framework enabling it to set it apart from those falling within its public service remit “(recommendation 8).
In areas that are not interconnected to the continental metropolitan network, the CRE considers that “a relevant provision of consumption and production data can contribute to a better level of control of energy demand, which is a particularly significant issue in these territories” . Operators will have to “provide the competitive sector with all the data it needs to encourage the emergence of innovative services” (Recommendation 9).
One of the key recommendations concerns governance models for the provision of data. “The emergence of an entity responsible for making available some of the data of regulated energy operators is, according to the CRE, due to several factors: a necessary equity to be preserved between local authorities of different sizes, which are not all able to develop such services; the concomitant treatment of all the energies of a territory, which contribute to the coherence of local energy policies; the need to avoid the risk of energy data being “cannibalized” by a private actor, whose scale could allow it to establish a de facto monopoly on the basis of data collected and produced by operators with public service missions “.
On this occasion, the CRE formalises six principles that should guide the establishment of a shared platform for the provision of energy data (recommendation n ° 10):
- The provision must first be organized around aggregated energy data.
- Data aggregation must include all levels of networks.
- A platform must be designed so that it can expand to “multifluid” data.
- The construction of a platform must meet the needs of users and be limited in its functionality.
- Such a platform must be flexible and adaptable.
- Such a platform must be compatible with initiatives already undertaken.
Consolidate trust for innovation
The CRE notes that services based on the exploitation of energy data attract only limited a interest from end-users of energy, a little more so from domestic consumers.
According to the CRE, various factors contribute to explain this lack of interest: “consumer mistrust of the deployment of advanced metering systems and the exploitation of related data; their lack of knowledge of the main concepts and principles handled; a breakdown of the roles of the actors of the energy systems, in particular the distinction between the energy suppliers and the network operators, is difficult to comprehend “.
CRE considers, first of all, that “the level of consent obtained from consumers to use the energy data concerning him is not a technical or legal matter. This is a prerequisite for confidence in the emergence of new services “. It invites “energy and service providers, as well as network operators, to work to provide users with data collection methods that must be succinct, comprehensive and easily understandable, and allowing for informed consent“. It further considers that ‘network operators, as responsible for the management of such consents, must have the necessary powers to exercise control over the existence of such consent and, as such, encourage the legislator and the regulatory power to change the relevant texts “(Recommendation 11).
Fears about the confidentiality of the information collected by the advanced counting systems have not all been removed. The CRE hopes that educational efforts in this area are amplified “to better explain to the consumer the validity and scope of the exploitation of personal data that concern him. This is why the CRE calls for the decompartmentalization of security and confidentiality issues “. (Recommendation No. 12)
In order for consumers to be able to gain more ownership of energy data and thus perceive the stake that a third party might have in exploiting these data for their benefit, the CRE that “an initiative that is comparable to what the US has implemented with the Green Button is put in place to allow everyone to retrieve and share the data concerning them (recommendation 13).
Giving access to the players and decompartmentalising the CRE’s approach
Given the unprecedented normative effervescence in terms of data availability, the CRE has announced the production of a strategic orientation document on energy data. “It will formalize the guidelines regarding the issues related to the provision of energy data, which can be used at national level and vis-à-vis the different European authorities” (recommendation no. 14).
Finally, the report points out the numerous intersections with the areas of expertise of other French regulatory authorities identified by the study committee, in particular with the ANSSI, the CNIL, the Competition Authority and the ARCEP. To this end, the CRE proposes the creation of governance model for the dissemination of energy data in an open data format (Recommendation No. 15)
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Source: CRE, Rapport données gestionnaires de réseaux et d’infrastructures d’énergie