Metering and Billing

Creating cost effective and compliant services

Metering and billing sits at the heart of heat network management. It is regulated through the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations and directly feeds into scheme finance and customer satisfaction. The reality is it takes time to get right and day to day housing management gives little space for this.

 

Chirpy Heat can provide the expertise you need to assess your current processes and get the right management, specification and suppliers in place, helping you to reduce costs and stay on the right side of compliance.

     

    Issues

    Many housing providers find they have metering and billing issues because:

    • They must juggle multiple contractors and technologies across the portfolio, which takes time and adds costs.
    • They are unsure what metering equipment they have and whether it is working properly across all their homes. 
    • They do not have effective and robust KPIs included in existing contracts to ensure they get the service their customers need.
    • They are not clear on contractors’ roles and responsibilities and find the are reactive rather than proactively reporting issues.

    Chirpy Heat can support you to:

    • Determine the best metering and billing approach for your organisation and help plan a strategic transition
    • Develop a simple and compliant procurement process and ensure you have choice and control over who you appoint
    • Ensure relevant KPIs and customer service expectations are included in metering and billing contracts
    • Keep you engaged with market changes that can improve the metering and billing experience for you and your customers
    • Manage the procurement process including specification, market engagement, tender assessment, contractor interviews, mobilisation and commissioning

     

    Case Study

    Chirpy Heat worked with a client who were interested in changing metering and billing agent to a new contractor better suited to their needs. To achieve this, Chirpy Heat developed a strategic approach to metering and billing across the clients’ heat network portfolio. Using the clients’ organisational drivers as the benchmark, Chirpy Heat appraised the options available for metering and billing, recommended a long-term approach and specification, and developed a transition programme to a new metering and billing provider with key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) included in their contract, to ensure a high level of customer service is met.

    Our work saved significant resource for the client and allowed for a targeted procurement roadmap to ensure a successful choice of metering and billing agent, tailored to meet their needs.

    To find out more:

    Contact us