Consent

Introduction

Customers of the n3rgy platform require consent before access to meter data is available. Consent must be gained from the end customer (the occupant of the property where the meter is installed). 

n3rgy supports a variety of ways which supports our customers in gaining consent from the end customer, the first and most frequently used for new n3rgy customers is the In Home Display (IHD) identification code (some times called serial number, MAC address or GUID). Note. the IHD does not have to be powered on to complete this process.

There are several manufacturers of IHDs in the GB market, the most common are Chameleon and Geo.

Using this process, n3rgy will collect, varify and maintain consent evidence associated with each meter you gain access to. For details on how to integrate the IHD consent into your application, documentation can be found in our customer portal.

The second way for customers to instruct n3rgy of consent is via our 'Trusted Consent' process in which consent is added via a simple API call. This mechanism supports a variety of processes such as Credit/Debit card validation, energy bill, QR Code, device serial number and more (contact info@n3rgy.com for more information). In this scenario the n3rgy customer is responsible for implementation of the process and the collection and maintenance of consent evidence. Again further information is available in the n3rgy customer portal and via info@n3rgy.com.

The Consent process and evidence must be both compliant with GDPR and the Smart Energy Code Section I. As always the processing of data must also be compliant with GDPR.

Behaviours & Differences

The are some variations in behaviour of the consent mechanism depending on the meter type you may need to be aware of.

Consenting an SMETS (typically installed in domestic properties or smaller commercial locations) will typically enable access to both Gas and Electricity data. This is because both meters are typically connected to the same local communication network and therefore n3rgy can determine both meters as associated with the same physical property. This means consenting using the MPAN (electricity meter) will also result in access be granted to the Gas meter (unless you indicate otherwise during the consent process), and vice versa. But when calling our API to list all meters you have access to, only the MPxN consented will displayed. If multiple Electricity meters or multiple Gas meters are installed with a common local communication network then access is granted to all of these meters.

However, there are some scenarios where consent will be required separately for the different meters at the same property. These are exceptional situations where the gas meter could be at a significant distance from the electricity meter and therefore it is not possible for it to communicate using the same local communication network. In this scenario the n3rgy customer will need to consent meter meter separately. This individual consent model is further complicated by limitations in the national smart meter system which will only return 1 meter installation detail when using our /find-mpxn service (using address). In this scenario you will need to retrieve the meter numbers directly from the end customer, and consent each individually to proceed.

AMR meters (typically installed in industry & larger commercial locations) are typically installed separately and therefore these meters will need to be consented separately.