We are over six weeks into Retail Code Consolidation and the go-live of our new services. We are pleased to report that we are on track to conclude our Hypercare support arrangements following the go-live of the REC Code Manager service at the end of the month, with significant progress being made to resolve all high priority issues. We are now working with the Code Managers to prioritise further service enhancements to the overall service, including across the Portal, Service Desk and EMAR, with a number of releases being planned from the end of October up until March.
The Code Managers will be working with REC Parties to understand what improvements you would like to see as well as incorporating any feedback that has been received so far. Please keep sending in your feedback so we can ensure the service is developed to meet all your business needs.
RECCo has also been turning its attention to what is on the horizon for the retail energy market as part of developing the Strategy and Budget for consultation with REC Parties in January 2021. As part of this work, RECCo has established a comprehensive Switching Programme Implementation project to coordinate four different workstreams to ensure RECCo and its service providers’ readiness with the implementation of the Central Switching Service (CSS) in summer next year. Both our newsletter ‘Inside RECCo’ and website will provide stakeholders with the latest updates of the project and what developments mean for you.
We recently also completed a competitive procurement exercise to support the creation of a ‘Theft Estimation Methodology’ as part of our development of RECCo’s Theft Reduction Strategy. We are pleased to be working with Capgemini who were awarded the contract and who placed stakeholder engagement as a key priority for development of the Methodology. This month’s newsletter will provide an update on the project and we will also be updating industry at the UKRPA Forum on 22nd October.
If you have any comments or observation on any of our services, please let us know at info@retailenergycode.co.uk.
Sid Cox, CEO, RECCo
REC Development
We plan to engage with stakeholders and will be arranging bespoke workshops throughout the Autumn and using this to outline our strategy planning process.
RECCo has submitted responses to BEIS’ consultation on Industry Codes Reforms and Opt-in/Opt-out switching; these will be published on the RECCo website shortly.
RECCo is pleased to announce the appointment of Capgemini to lead the development of the Theft Estimation Methodology. This work is expected to inform future decisions on the Theft Reduction Strategy.
CSS Programme
We are pleased to announce Andrew Wallace has been appointed as our Switching Programme Implementation Manager. Andrew is responsible for leading the team delivering the 4 workstreams that make up RECCo’s CSS readiness programme. The work programme is underpinned by a detailed delivery plan to ensure that RECCo and all its service providers are fully engaged and aligned.
RECCo Corporate Organisation
RECCo is continuing to develop its organisational infrastructure, including welcoming 3 new employees to our Finance and Commerical and Operations and Transformation teams.
Stakeholder Engagement
Two weeks after go-live, RECCo published the first of a series of stakeholder ‘pulse’ surveys to understand initial experiences following the go-live of the new REC Code Manager service.
The survey highlighted that the REC Code Manager service had been well received, particularly all the available support put in place to help industry participants navigate the Retail Energy Code arrangements. It was also clear, for some stakeholders, the new Data Specification within EMAR was not as intuitive as it should be. As a priority, the REC Code Manager will be working with stakeholders to incorporate feedback to further develop the functionality and format over coming months. The Code Manager will be working with the REC Technical Expert Panel on the improvements programme around EMAR and will also be holding a workshop with parties on 3rd November to understand how best the Data Specification should be evolved to meet industry requirements.
We are also currently reviewing the pipeline of activity over the next year to further develop our stakeholder engagements and communications for industry participants. Over coming months, we will also be continuing to develop our website to improve usability and plan to publish real time information on all of our activities and programmes.
Our latest edition of ‘Inside RECCo’ has received lots of positive feedback with over 200 reads in the first 2 weeks alone. We also understand that in a recent poll within the newsletter, this was the preferred route of communication by RECCo to stakeholders. We are looking to improve the newsletter and understanding from our readers what they would like to hear about from RECCo is key to this. If you have any suggestions, please let us know at info@retailenergycode.co.uk.
Consumer Programme
Work on the Consumer Journey Forum and PCW and Supplier Forum has been focusing on concluding discussions across a range of topics and pulling together all outstanding actions ahead of delivering a final report and a series of recommendations to the RECCo Board in December. We look forward to sharing the outcomes of both Forums with you over coming months.
Financial Management
RECCo continues to manage its financial and other resources prudently. Costs for the first 6 months of the current financial year continue to track favourably against budget. Several variances to budget were experienced in the month however these were in the main timing items reversing historic variances or relate to costs expected to be incurred at a later date. Change during the code manager mobilisation period to the end of August 2021 and initial early live operation has been minimised. RECCo continues to closely monitor and scrutinise all proposed change, be that through the REC Change process or Switching Programme change, to ensure value for money is achieved. We anticipate that change costs will be higher in the second half of the financial year reflecting the maturing REC Change process and the Switching programme industry testing regime.
RECCo will be issuing its October invoices later this month to both Supplier and Distribution Businesses for their respective share of the RECCo operating costs for the period October – December 2021. The REC sets out the obligations on REC funding parties to pay those invoices within the agreed credit terms e.g., 30 days from invoice date. If you have any queries regarding your invoice, please contact finance@retailenergycode.co.uk.
