SMIP is responsible for the rollout of smart gas and electricity meters to all domestic and small business premises in Great Britain and for arranging the provision of the supporting data and network infrastructure required by energy suppliers and others to access devices installed in consumer premises nationwide.

The Task

Members of the Baseline team were involved in the:

Commercial structuring strategy;

Procurement;

Design, preparation and negotiation of all contractual documentation;

Coordination with all relevant regulatory and legislative workstreams;

Technical architecture and solution design;

Smart Metering security architecture;

Development of the target operating model; and

Development of testing and assurance strategies.

The SMIP Impact Assessment predicted the total costs from smart metering roll-out under the Programme to be £12.1bn.with corresponding benefits in the region of £18.8bn.

Some Challenges

A significant number of the usual transformational programme challenges applied to SMIP. In particular, the many and varied internal and external stakeholders all needed to be involved throughout the programme lifecycle. Industry needed to be content with the smart metering solution and all data and communications services providers needed to align with the chosen technology framework, the timelines and support the required SMIP benefits.

Team members were acutely aware of the on-going audit and oversight associated with the programme and with the significant public disquiet traditionally associated with “large Government programmes.”