Last week we convened the March Open Energy Steering Group meeting. The Steering Group is comprised of a wide range of industry leaders and subject matter experts, representing a cross section of private and public players with a unique contribution. The Steering Group plays a critical role in Open Energy’s development, providing us with a sector perspective that ensures that Open Energy is designed for and with the energy industry.

We discussed the recent policy consultations impacting the energy sector, and the research and conclusions for our programme SODA (a commercial and technical feasibility study on a smart meter repository) and our proposal for next steps. We had a rich conversation on the future of Open Energy, highlighting the need for a clear direction of travel from government and industry, and discussing how to progress Open Energy as an initiative. We also heard from SSEN about their digitalisation strategy and stakeholder engagement efforts. Finally, we discussed Open Net Zero’s roadmap for the near and future term.  

Key insights from the Steering Group:

  • There is an important action to push for clarity of direction from government and industry 
  • Open Energy constitutes a market design and national data infrastructure for the energy sector
  • We need to be exploring the needs of the future system and how we support the dynamics of a decentralised system, rather than basing key strategic decisions the system today
  • Sharing of data under an appropriate licence is critical for to achieve customer focussed outputs, and classifying data as Open / Shared / Closed is essential for appropriate data sharing

How you can support:

  • Please let us know about any relevant consultations where you think we could add value or help share our vision by responding — email openenergy@icebreakerone.org.