Ofgem has confirmed the Retail Energy Code Company (RECCo) as the Delivery Body for the Consumer Consent Solution, the system intended to let households grant and manage consent for sharing their smart meter data. The decision, published on 29 April 2025, follows a consultation that opened on 9 August 2024 and closed on 5 October 20241. The minimum viable product (MVP) is planned for deployment in autumn or winter 2026, following comprehensive testing1.
Ofgem received 50 responses to the consultation, comprising nine suppliers, seven technology companies, seven code bodies, six third party intermediaries, six nonprofits or trade bodies, five network licensees, five consumer groups and charities, two from the finance sector, two from other organisations and one from a university1. Ofgem consulted on three potential Delivery Body options: RECCo, ElectraLink and Smart DCC. When presented with the three options, 20 respondents preferred RECCo with 10 disagreeing1.
"Our decision is to confirm our minded to position, namely that the Retail Energy Code Company (“RECCo”) 3 will be the Delivery Body of the Consumer Consent Solution and the solution will be governed under the REC."
Funding for development and delivery will come from the Retail Energy Code cost recovery model, which Ofgem describes as an interim model that it and RECCo may re-examine once the solution is deployed beyond the MVP stage1. Indicative costings are estimated at approximately £2.7 million for the first year of development and approximately £4.6 million over the second year, a total of £7.3 million over two years. Subsequent running costs are estimated at £2 million per annum1. Ofgem states that when split between consumers this works out to 26p per household over the two years of development, and that costs apportioned in this manner sit within the Default Tariff Cap as part of REC costs1.
Ofgem is standing up three working groups to advise RECCo on design and delivery: Consumer Protection and Accessibility; Technical Design and Security; and Implementation and Governance. Ofgem will chair these groups for a six-month period before handing full responsibility to RECCo1. On the data model, Ofgem says the final detail is best selected by RECCo with advice from the working groups, but that it considers a hybrid model with more decentralised aspects to be the most supported approach in the consultation responses1.
Why it matters for households
Smart meter consumption data is the starting point for the solution, which Ofgem says will expand to other datasets as the Delivery Body's resource and prioritisation permits1. For a household, the practical effect is a single, standardised route to give, check and withdraw permission for others to use its energy data, rather than separate arrangements with each supplier or service. Ofgem's foreword frames this as a foundation for consumer-led flexibility, citing the government's ambition for 10 to 12GW of capacity in the energy system through consumer-led flexibility by 20301. Homes that take up time-of-use tariffs, home energy monitors or other services that read consumption data depend on that data moving between parties; the consent record is what governs whether it moves and on what terms. The 26p per household figure covers the two years of development only, and Ofgem notes running costs are estimated separately at £2 million per annum1. No detail has been reported on how those running costs would be recovered from households.
What happens next
Ofgem has decided to add an obligation in the Electricity Supply Licence requiring suppliers to record pre-existing consents in the solution, and says this will be the subject of a full statutory consultation in 20261. An Impact Assessment will be produced and consulted on, with detailed indicative cost inputs from RECCo1. The MVP deployment is planned for autumn or winter 2026 following comprehensive testing1. The Consumer Consent Solution sits within Ofgem's wider work on smart meters and home energy management, and the licence change will run through the regulation and policy process.
Sources1 cited
- Consumer Consent Decision, ofgem.gov.uk