As of 1st April 2017 the new half-hourly (HH) settlement code, P272, will be complete allowing all 05-08 profile class customers to see their energy usage in more detail than ever before. Alan Davidson, head of commercial energy at Scottish Power, gives an overview of what you need to know and the benefits P272 will bring to your business.
We understand you will have a list as long as your arm to get through before the Christmas break, but with only four months to go until P272 is due for completion, energy suppliers are encouraging their customers with a 05-08 profile to get ready for the changes that are coming into place. At Scottish Power we will work with all our commercial customers to make sure they understand what P272 will mean for them and the steps they need to take to make best use of the new HH data.
With over 160,000 businesses affected by P272, it is important to be ahead of the game and beat the rush.  But don’t worry, there is still plenty time to work with your supplier to make the switch.
Working together
In order for you to benefit from the transfer over to Half Hourly Data, an Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) meter will need to be installed. Once in place, the transition to P272 can be agreed with your supplier. This conversion to half-hourly metering will give you the benefit of a more detailed view of your business energy costs, as we retrieve your energy data from your site on a half-hourly basis.
What this means for you
The implementation of P272 will allow you to have better visibility of your energy consumption. The HH data will accurately reflect your usage, enabling you to monitor consumption more closely and in turn, buy energy more efficiently and understand your costs. The biggest benefit identified is the ability for customers to shift electricity loads away from peak periods either by changing your usage pattern or through Demand Side Response activities, which can in turn present a financial saving.
Putting you in control
At Scottish Power, we have launched a new Commercial Energy Portal, allowing you to manage your energy portfolio with ease, putting the control into your hands. Once logged into the portal, you will be able to see your consumption profile, giving you the ability to manage your portfolio and look at appropriate tariffs. For example, we operate a tariff that allows you to be in control of your load profile. This aligns your HH consumption data to Red, Amber and Green time bands, offering you the opportunity to move elements of your consumption out of the more expensive Red and Amber periods into the Green, cheaper period.
P272 provides the potential to reduce your energy costs if well utilised and with only four months until the deadline, we encourage you to contact your supplier to install a new AMR meter. Aligned with our portal it is simple to log on, view your data, download your tailored bill and more importantly, save  valuable time, which can be used for your all-important Christmas shopping.
For more information visit www.scottishpower.co.uk/p272.
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