Smart data from the energy sector is essential for the UK energy market to reduce costs for households and businesses, support personalised digital services and drive the country’s net zero journey.
Quoting annual energy bills, optimising EV charging and co-ordinating renewables for grid flexibility all become more precise with smart energy data.
This data is now increasingly being used in industries such as real estate and finance, meaning new use cases as well as challenges for data governance.
Experienced data controllers like ElectraLink have developed a clear pathway to build trust among data subjects and comply with British legislation.
Property-level data is personal
For over a decade, ElectraLink has supported access to data based on consent as the most unambiguous approach. (We have also supported the public task basis for the data we provide to Ofgem and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero).
This approach was reinforced when the GDPR was introduced in 2018, which asserts that individuals have rights over their personal data and should decide who has access to it.
ElectraLink has always operated acknowledging the ICO position that energy consumption data is personal data.
This includes forecasted annual household consumption figures and meter readings which are accepted across the energy market as the best data types for quoting energy bills.
These data types give valuable insight into a property’s energy usage habits, especially when half-hourly smart meter readings are available, but can also be exploited.
For example, fluctuations in energy consumption can reveal occupancy changes or payment habits which clandestine organisations can use for ill-gained enrichment. Therefore, informed consent of the energy end user billpayer is critical.
Working with new legislation
The Data Use and Access Act 2025 (DUAA) aims to control bad practices and give individuals even greater decision-making power over their data.
The DUAA was introduced to build on GDPR principles and drive the UK’s growing digital services market.
Experienced data vendors have the technology and processes necessary to be compliant with data governance while opening smart data benefits within the frameworks of both the GDPR and the DUAA.
When accessing property-level data with bill-payer consent, trust is key. Establishing trust with data subjects entails an esteemed reputation and robust processes to prove personal data is safe and used for the data subject’s benefit.
For example, ElectraLink’s user group – a set of representatives from ElectraLink’s customer base – reviews data protection impact assessments and approves all requests from parties to access specific items in the billions of rows of consumption data across Great Britain.
This is to ensure the data is accessed only for use cases that genuinely benefit the data subject. Thus, through a chain of checks and balances, data subjects’ information is protected from exploitation.
Additionally, data subjects must legally be able to view, manage, revoke and renew their consent, which requires personalised digital services and identity verification that share consent information with all the relevant data processors. This builds on users’ trust in the digital services they sign up for.
This technology enables compliance and gives data subjects power over their personal information. ElectraLink has developed a smart meter usage data solution, GoSmart, with consent management as its core feature.
Household bill payers can give their consent via highly secure credit card verification and business managers can consent via a Letter of Authority and bill validation – also provided and stored in a safe user portal.
When consent is not given or available, property-level energy consumption data can be aggregated, thus obscuring individual properties’ usage habits.
This protects individual households’ and business’ data from being exploited, and legal arguments to access the aggregated data are made on legitimate interest bases.
For example, ElectraLink has created 5Sites – an API-based solution which unlocks access to energy consumption data for over 32 million meters.
Commercial landlords can acquire an aggregated consumption figure for as few as five meters without tenant consent, providing an accurate, simple, compliant route to undertake carbon reporting and other activities.
A system of mutual benefit
Tech firms view smart data as an asset to build new services, create new revenue streams and contribute to the UK’s digital-first vision.
But this asset is built on a contract of mutual benefit between tech firms and individuals. In line with legislative principles, ElectraLink is encouraging fellow tech and data innovators to reassure data subjects that we are trustworthy custodians of their data.
In cases where data processors do not act accordingly, organisations like ElectraLink need to take action to ensure data protection is updated to meet our standards.
Through an ecosystem of knowledge, processes and technology, everyone can benefit from responsible access to and use of smart data.
