Ofgem has published the final impact assessment for the Consumer Consent Solution, the digital platform that will let households grant, manage and revoke consent for the sharing of their smart meter data. The assessment confirms RECCo Ltd as the delivery body to design, develop and deploy the solution, following a draft impact assessment that was consulted on 30 October 20251.
The regulator set out the policy history in the document. It published a Call for Input in November 2023 presenting three design options plus a do-nothing approach; consulted in August 2024 on appointing RECCo as delivery body; and confirmed its minded-to position in April 20251. Of the four options, a single technical solution emerged as preferred, with 74 per cent of respondents identifying it as the most favourable1.
The assessment monetises benefits and costs from 2025 to 2033, with 2025 as the base year and figures in September 2025 prices, discounted to a net present value1. Three scenarios are given:
| Scenario | Benefits | Costs | Benefit-cost ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average or expected | £345.92m | £86.48m | 4.00 |
| Worst case | £100.49m | £101.27m | 0.99 |
| Best case | £564.38m | £78.69m | 7.87 |
The average scenario uses the midpoint of cost ranges and the lower end of the benefits range to avoid optimism bias; the worst case uses the highest cost assumptions and assumes only 20 per cent of benefits occur; the best case uses the lower bound of cost ranges1. Ofgem also increased its estimate of indirect costs borne by industry parties, from 11 to 17 per cent of the cost estimate set out by the Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement programme to 15 to 22 per cent1.
The document states that costs are expected to be recovered through the REC Cost Recovery Mechanism and so spread evenly between consumers1. The initial scope covers domestic and small business smart meter data only, with scope to expand to non-domestic meters and advanced meters in future iterations1.
"Ofgem has selected RECCo as the delivery body to design, develop and deploy the Consumer Consent Solution."
Why it matters for households
The Consumer Consent Solution is intended to replace a patchwork of consent processes that Ofgem describes as fragmented, producing inconsistent practices, consumer confusion and consent fatigue1. For a household, the practical effect is a single route to decide who can see half-hourly consumption data, and to withdraw that permission, rather than a separate arrangement with each supplier, aggregator or app. Ofgem frames the objective as giving consumers control over their data with clear, real-time tools1.
That data underpins time-of-use tariffs, home energy monitoring and demand flexibility payments, so the consent mechanism sits underneath a household's ability to take part in them. The assessment links the solution to the government's Clean Power 2030 ambition of 10 to 12 GW of consumer-led flexibility capacity, describing a trusted, standardised consent mechanism as a foundational requirement1. The costs of building and running it fall on consumers through the REC cost recovery mechanism, spread evenly rather than by usage1.
What happens next
The policy will be reviewed, with a scheduled review date of July 20281. The assessment does not set out a deployment date for the solution itself, and no launch timetable has been reported.
Sources1 cited
- Consumer Consent, ofgem.gov.uk