Advisory Services

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Our team of trusted advisors pride themselves on not only being experts but also thought leaders in key areas for the future of the industry.

Our reputation for impartiality and energy market expertise makes us an ideal partner in the implementation, facilitation and change management of energy market governance arrangements. Above all we strive to make the complex simple and deliver solutions that work for you.

ElectraLink’s Advisory Services Team

Our Advisory Services Team has over 45 years of combined practical working experience across the ever-changing energy regulatory governance landscape. This experience means we have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of this complex environment that continues to develop at pace.

We are able to provide an independent practical view of how organisations can reduce costs, increase process efficiency and maintain compliance – whether you are a new or existing market participant.

Working as a central body at the heart of the energy industry means we are uniquely placed to provide independent advisory services and support in the following areas:

Bespoke training: this can range from a complete market overview to more deep dives into subjects such as metering, Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR), and navigating codes including Supply Point Administration Agreement (SPAA), Distribution Connection and Use of System Agreement (DCUSA), Smart Metering Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP)
Bespoke operational assessments which combine our tailored industry data with our in-depth understanding of operational processes
Tailored digitisation and digitalisation solutions, including document management
Regulatory assessment including Retail Energy Code (REC) readiness and faster switching compliance and assurance.
Development and implementation of proportionate regulatory governance and assurance frameworks to address converging market challenges
Supporting the regulatory governance aspects of DNO to DSO transition including support to innovators and administration of the DCUSA Innovation Sandbox.

If you have a challenge that you think we may be able to help with, please get in touch at advisory-services@electralink.co.uk

The Advisory Team

Mark Olliver | Head of Advisory Services

Mark heads up our Advisory Services within ElectraLink’s Governance Services team and has worked in various business and technical roles across the energy and utilities industry since 1999. Before joining ElectraLink in 2018, Mark held Principal Consultant positions at both PA Consulting and CGI working across oil, gas, electricity, water and government sectors. Specialist areas include regulatory compliance, including the development and implementation of compliance and assurance frameworks; smart metering and Smart Energy Code (including security) and the related ISO standards. Mark has worked on a number of initiatives to design, develop and implement compliance in a number of markets including non-domestic water, smart metering and Third-Party Intermediary retail. Mark also chairs the Erroneous Transfer Performance Assurance Board (ET PAB) on behalf of the Supply Point Administration Agreement (SPAA) Executive Committee.

John Brignell | Senior Advisor

John joined the Advisory Services Team in 2018, having worked in various consultative roles in the utilities sector over the past ten years. John has invaluable hands-on experience of operational processes in retail utilities, including metering and settlements, as well as partner management and performance. John is passionate about digital transformation and is the subject matter expert in our team. John continues to work on a number of digitisation initiatives to enable both compliance and business driven change. More widely John is focussing on how data and technology can be used to enhance performance in the sector. Currently, John is exploring the use of Natural Language Processing in regulation and how we might match that to associated data sets to provide more context and meaning to the information in the market.

Stephanie Catwell | Senior Advisor

Stephanie has worked in regulatory governance since 2014 with a focus on driving change and solution development in the energy industry. Prior to joining Electralink, Stephanie worked at Gemserv which has enabled her to establish a detailed knowledge of change implementation across the Master Registration Agreement (MRA) and Supply Point Administration Agreement (SPAA). Stephanie has been heavily involved in the development of the ET Performance Assurance Board (ET PAB) that went live in 2019 to determine and monitor industry best practice. She also has a detailed working knowledge of the Retail Energy Code currently under development.

Anthony Bivens | Senior Advisor

Anthony joined the Advisory Services Team in 2019 having previously worked at BEAMA. Anthony has worked across the electricity transmission, distribution and whole energy systems sectors with a focus on the DSO transition. Anthony’s experience includes project and programme management, energy policy, low carbon technology and manufacturing. This has led to Anthony holding a number of industry roles focusing on electricity networks, innovation, DSO transition, electrification of transport and heat both in the UK and Europe. In the Advisory Services Portfolio, Anthony is the lead for DSO Advisory Services.

Hollie Nicholls | Advisor

Hollie joined ElectraLink in 2017 having previously worked at the Energy Network Association (ENA). Working across the electricity transmission, distribution and whole energy systems sectors with a focus on the DCUSA Innovation Sandbox, Hollie has a detailed working knowledge of gas and electricity governance, regulation and policy. Hollie’s primary focus in the Advisory Services Portfolio is responsibility for supporting industry through the DCUSA Innovation Sandbox application process and DNO to DSO transition.

Services that we provide

Regulatory Solutions

We provide experienced chairing, secretariat and governance services for a range of industry governance frameworks. We also deliver tailored and fully facilitated workshops, that seek to transform and improve the industry and can be measured on tangible outcomes. The team’s experience in these areas provides us with a wealth of regulatory framework knowledge that we draw from, together with our access to a unique data set, to develop compelling solutions for the market.

We have developed codes, obligations and agreements for new markets and work with multiple clients to support the on-going transformation of the energy market. DNO-to-DSO transition, performance assurance, new multi-party agreements and code digitisation are just some of the assignments we are undertaking and helping to drive up industry standards.

Agile Governance

We are pioneering the concept of Agile Governance, an approach that provides a flexible, iterative and digital approach to governance. The initiative seeks to make understanding and interacting with the rules and regulations much easier both those already operating in the industry and those entering it.

We believe an agile framework is necessary to deliver a range of governance services in order to meet the various needs of a market that must foster innovation. Therefore, our approach is about producing tangible results after each iteration and building and improving from the lessons of the previous phase.

Our exploration includes the following principles:

Promote collaboration – Working with individuals and organisations to provide a flexible response to change.
Unifying data – Taking a holistic view of all qualitative and quantitative data across the industry and establishing meaningful relationships between that information.
Demystify the market – Untangling the complex web of rulebooks and future and in-flight change to provide a clear context to the relationships and interactions to enable a better understanding across the industry.
Personalised experience – Presenting the information relevant to each stakeholder in a tailored way that is easy for them to understand. From the highest role-based view down to an organisational or functional level.

Metering Compliance

We are experts in all aspects of metering compliance and are at the forefront of its development.

Our DTS supports the near real-time data requirements of smart metering, demand side response, embedded generation and storage. We are engaged with the industry using data services to facilitate the communication of market information and the swift resolution of issues.

We have developed the industry’s only National Revenue Protection Service in response to the needs of smaller market participants – drawing from our market leading knowledge of energy theft.

Not stopping here, our metering expertise has shaped the market in many areas including the Smart Metering Program, PEMS, Erroneous Transfers.

We provide a range of knowledge and expertise relating to metering performance and compliance including MAMCoP audit readiness and delivery; data flow management; and training of SPAA and MRA end-to-end processes.

Market Entry

The growth of the UK energy market and addition of new entrants makes for a diverse market and potentially offering better deals for consumers. Stricter entry criteria seeks to filter out those that are under-prepared and under-resourced in order to reduce the risk of supplier failure and drive up standards for consumers.

Through our compliance driven approach, we will support you in understanding all the variables for running a high-performing business in the energy industry.

Market Exit and Supplier of Last Resort

The number of energy suppliers entering market exit procedures within the last year has been higher than any point in history. Some have been planned and some unplanned. Currently, market exit processes are fragmented across the market with different processes siloed within the multiple codes. This can lead to an uncontrolled and uncoordinated market exit process with consequential impacts on consumer experiences.

As trusted advisors we are able to:

Work at either side of the market exit transfer
Liaise with industry codes and assurance boards to manage potential issues
Develop and maintain plain English guidance
Provide support and advice to parties on market exit obligations
Act as bridge to data services and forewarn where applicable
Keep Ofgem informed
Update industry data connections and identifiers
Manage the transfer of consumer portfolios including change of agent, change of shipper and system migrations
Assure performance before and after the transition

DCUSA Sandbox

As DCUSA administrators, we provide advice and guidance through the DCUSA sandbox to drive innovation and creative problem-solving in the UK energy market. The sandbox allows innovators to trial and test new products without the need to go through the lengthy and restrictive code derogation process, putting new concepts into a live environment without some of the usual rules applying.

Our expert team previews sandbox applications to see where the innovation will meet regulatory check points and confirm the extent to which a product adheres to strict market criteria. Thereafter, we work with market participants to plan a way forward and bring exciting developments to the market.

Advisory Services