DR1194 – Adjust NI Readings
Long term consumption adjustments have been an outstanding market issue for a considerable time period. Metering related issues in particular cases related to equipment, wiring or installation errors create extremely difficult and emotive customer interactions.
The current market rules allow NIE Networks to recover up to 6 years of back billing DUoS revenue following the discovery of a metering issue. This places suppliers in the untenable position of seeking to recover historic costs from a customer who in good faith had being paying bills, was not at fault and was unaware that the recorded consumption was incorrect. The supplier’s position is often compounded by subsequent customer switching or the real prospect that the customer is simply not in a position to make the payment.
The proposed solution would be to mandate that NIE Networks adjust readings in cases of under recovery back to a point 13 months prior to discovery only, to align with the wholesale settlement arrangements.
In cases of over recovery the adjustment would be made back to the determined point of error.