Data Collector / Data Aggregator

Data Collector (DC) and Data Aggregator (DA) are the licensed roles responsible for, respectively, retrieving half-hourly consumption data from a HH electricity meter and processing that data into the format required for industry settlement (the matching of total system generation to total system consumption every half-hour).

For most HH customers, the same provider performs both DC and DA roles under one contract — usually shortened in customer documentation to DC/DA.

• The DC retrieves the data from the meter via the meter's communications link, validates it, fills any gaps using approved estimation methods, and submits it on the industry timetable.
• The DA receives validated data from one or more DCs, aggregates it by supplier and Grid Supply Point, and submits it for settlement.

As with MOP services, the DC/DA contract is separate from the energy supply contract for HH sites and is signed directly with the customer. Tendering DC/DA separately from supply, and from MOP, is a routine procurement step on multi-site HH portfolios, and the savings are typically modest but durable.

The Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement programme is changing the boundaries of these roles — see MHHS — but the underlying functions of metering data retrieval and settlement aggregation will continue.