Provision of Grid Supply Point Group ID from a Postcode search in EES
Summary
Empty
Latest update and next planned activity
Date of latest update
Latest Update
05/04/2024 - The Code Manager has rejected the progression of R0111 as Postcode itself does not always have a direct correlation to the GSP Group and believes that a full address should be provided so that accurate quotes are given to a Consumer.
Impacts Overview
Impacted Consumers
Electricity
Domestic
Non-Domestic
Impacted REC Parties and Market Participants
Energy Supplier
Impacted REC Documents
Schedule 24 - Switching Data Management
Impacted REC Services
Electricity Enquiry Service (EES)
Electricity Retail Data Service (ERDS)
Priority and rationale
Standard
Priority last updated on 29 May 2026
Solution development
No documents available.
There is currently no Change Plan.
Original submission
Change details
Andrew Dawson - GB Group plc
19 Apr 2023
Change details
Provision of Grid Supply Point Group ID from a Postcode search
Energy Suppliers and TPIs use the Grid Supply Point Group ID (GSPID) to help provide electricity tariff estimates for consumers before a switching instruction is received. Currently, if the supplier or TPI is using EES, the consumer must provide details of their property in order for EES to return all electricity meter-point details. The majority of all EES enquiries are initially for tariff estimates and a requirement to provide full address details at this stage will discourage many consumers from continuing their switching journey, resulting in abandonment. However, a request for just a postcode will result in better engagement and a higher chance of journey completion and a successful switching instruction. The GSPID is not Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and can be directly related to a postcode. This request proposes a change to EES to allow the return the GSPID field when a postcode search is undertaken by a consumer. An alternative proposal to this is for the provision of a GSPID to Postcode lookup table that could be freely downloaded by suppliers, TPIs and TPI Service Providers.
1. EES users are required to ask a consumer to enter full address details in order for the GSPId to be returned. This has a negative imact on a consumer's trust, early on in the journey and results in a higher chance of journey abandonment, discouraging a consumer for switching. 2. Currently, two calls to EES are generally required by the TPI to retrieve the GSPID. Given that most queries are for tariff estimates only, this impacts in two ways: (i) Asking for the user to select their address following a postcode search is an unecessary step in the user's journey at the tariff estimate stage. (ii) The second call at this stage incurs a charge which impacts financially on the EES user (e.g. the TPI) particularly when a TPI may make several million calls per year.
Either a) EES to be changed to return the GSPID against each address sharing the same postcode b) EES to introduce a new API method to allow GSPID to be returned from a postcode (and not to return the addresses) e.g. GetGspidFromPostcode()
Many suppliers and TPIs have asked if we can supply the GSPID from a postcode search without the need for them to ask the consumer to select their full address.
Impacts
Electricity, Domestic Prepayment, Domestic Credit, Microbusiness, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), Industrial and Commercial (I&C)
Switching experience, Billing accuracy, Trust and confidence
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Schedule 24 - Switching Data Management
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No details provided
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No details provided
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Data Access Matrix
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No details provided
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Electricity Retail Data Service
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Energy Suppliers, EES Users
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No details provided
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No
No details provided
Priority & timing
No
With the widely predicted fall in energy prices expected spring/summer 2023, there is an agreed anticipation of significantly increased volumes of switching traffic. The majority of all consumer jouneys will involve tariff estimates for which the GSPID is a ctitical piece of data. As such, the timely review and implementation of this change request should be considered.
Any change in the EES will need to be reflected in users' implementations of the service. Both the change by the EES service provider (C&C) and the resulting changes to suppliers' and TPIs' web-sites and back-office systems will take some time (weeks to months). Thus an expedited resolution to the change proposal will be appreciated by all EES users.
No
No details provided
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