Settlement issues for advanced metering with retail competiiton

Participants in competitive electricity markets need to share a distribution infrastructure. Metering systems cannot allocate all costs with precision, and current allocation assumptions and systems do not reward consumption behaviours that support ambient renewables and demand side participation, both critical to a low carbon Electricity Supply Industry. An alternative approach - FlowCost metering - does offer rewards for tuning consumption to available generation, and supports a competitive electricity retail market. Its adoption will need electricity retailers to develop sophisticated price setting systems, and settlement systems between players will need to migrate to new residual allocation assumptions that are acceptable to all parties.