Energy and Utilities
Smart metering sits at the intersection of the hardest things in energy delivery: a central body everyone depends on, fixed industry timetables, deep system integration and obligations that are not optional. Our consultants have worked on this environment, including with Smart DCC, and we help.
PEF Consulting Partners delivers smart metering at national scale: our leadership directed IT infrastructure for the UK smart metering programme covering twenty five million meters with Capita, alongside consultation work for the government on the programme itself and telecoms delivery with Vodafone.
Delivering the changes to systems, processes and operations that smart metering requires, to industry timetables that do not move for anyone.
Managing the integration to the central data and communications infrastructure, where much of your delivery risk sits outside your own organisation and cannot be tested in isolation.
An evidence based view for your board on whether your smart metering delivery is genuinely on track, particularly valuable when so much depends on parties you do not control. See independent programme assurance.
On a normal programme most of your risk is within your control. In smart metering, a large share lives in central systems, other participants and a shared timetable. The discipline that works is to manage external dependencies as first class risks, stay close to the central body, and make sure your own readiness is never the reason a fixed date slips. See our note on market wide change.
The rollout is no longer the story. Three things are. Out of region communications hubs on 2G and 3G lose service on 1 June 2026 under Ofgem’s modification SECMP308, with suppliers charged up to £500 per hub until each one is replaced. The DCC’s 4G hub replacement needs an engineer visit for every unit, and of the roughly 46,000 customers affected more than 16,000 are on prepayment and more than 21,000 are on the priority services register. Behind both sits the 2033 switch off of 2G and 3G altogether. For a supplier this is an installation scheduling, exceptions and vulnerable customer programme with a hard date, and that is the kind of programme we run. Where the meter estate is already generating billing exceptions, our billing integrity service picks up the money side.
We bring senior people who have delivered exactly this at scale. Honest advice, and accountability for the outcome.