Meet the players: 40+ organisations mapped

Module 1 set out the scale of GB energy data. Data does not flow by itself. Behind every meter reading, every SCADA sample, and every settlement run, an organisation holds a specific legal responsibility for creating, transporting, processing, or governing that data. The GB energy data ecosystem has over 40 distinct organisations, falling into six clear groups.

Three columns sort the groups by the role they play. The framework column on the left sets the rules. The operating column in the middle moves the energy and reads the telemetry. The enabling column on the right runs the data platforms and trades in the market.

Every organisation falls into one of these six groups. Each group has a distinct role, and each generates, consumes, and governs data differently.

Group 1: Government and regulators

Three organisations set the top-level rules. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) sets policy direction - including the 2035 clean power target and the Energy Act 2023 that created NESO. Ofgem regulates the industry, issues licences to networks and suppliers, and publishes the Data Best Practice Guidance that governs how energy data must be managed. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) enforces UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, determining when energy data constitutes personal data requiring consent.

Group 2: System operation

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) was created by the Energy Act 2023 and became operational in 2024. NESO balances supply and demand in real time across the electricity and gas systems, plans the future network, and runs the Electricity System Operator functions previously held by National Grid ESO. As an independent public corporation, NESO has a unique data position: it needs visibility across the entire system to fulfil its balancing and planning roles, making it both the largest single consumer and one of the largest producers of operational energy data.

Group 3: Networks

The physical infrastructure is operated by multiple network companies. On the electricity side: three transmission owners (NGET for England and Wales, SPT for southern Scotland, SHET for northern Scotland) operate the 400/275/132 kV supergrid. Six distribution network operator (DNO) groups hold 14 licence areas, managing everything from 33 kV down to the 230 V supply entering your home. On the gas side: National Gas Transmission (NGT) operates the National Transmission System, and four Gas Distribution Networks (GDNs) deliver gas to consumers. Each network company is both a major producer of operational data (SCADA, asset registers, loading data) and a consumer of market and metering data.

Group 4: Code bodies

Four organisations administer the industry codes and operate the critical data platforms.Elexon administers the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC), operates the Data Integration Platform (DIP) which went live in August 2025 and has already processed over 1 billion messages, and serves as the domain coordinator for Flexibility Market Asset Registration (FMAR).RECCo administers the Retail Energy Code (REC), under which the Central Switching Service went live in July 2022 and reduced switching time to 5 working days. DCCoperates that switching service as well as the smart meter communications infrastructure for the national meter estate across two WAN regions, and is transitioning from 2G/3G to 4G while launching VWAN in 2026. ElectraLink has operated the Data Transfer Service (DTS) for over 25 years using D-flow formats, and administers the DCUSA code.

Group 5: Industry bodies

Industry bodies coordinate across the sector without holding regulatory powers. The Energy Networks Association (ENA) coordinated the Open Networks project, which concluded in July 2025 after producing foundational work on flexibility markets and data sharing. The British Standards Institution (BSI) hosts the CIM Advisory Group (PEL/57/1), which works on the Common Information Model standards (IEC 61970/61968) that enable interoperability between network data systems.

Group 6: Market participants

Suppliers, generators, aggregators, and flexibility providers are the commercial entities that use energy data day-to-day. Flexibility providers are a rapidly growing category - the market is projected to grow from 2.5 GW to 12 GW by 2030 as distributed energy resources (batteries, EV chargers, heat pumps) participate in local and national flexibility markets. Every market participant is both a producer and consumer of data, submitting meter data and receiving settlement results, publishing generation forecasts and consuming price signals.

The four code bodies deserve deeper examination because they operate the platforms that move energy data across the system. Each has a distinct technical stack, governance structure, and data domain.

Elexon: settlement and the DIP

Elexon administers the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC), which governs how electricity is traded and settled in GB. Their most significant recent development is the Data Integration Platform (DIP), a cloud-native event-driven architecture that went live in August 2025. The DIP has already processed over 1 billion messages, replacing legacy file-based data flows with real-time messaging for half-hourly settlement data. Elexon also serves as the delivery body for Flexibility Market Asset Registration (FMAR), positioning it as the facilitator for emerging flexibility markets.

RECCo: switching and consent

RECCo administers the Retail Energy Code (REC). The Central Switching Service, operated by DCC under REC governance, went live in July 2022 and reduced the supplier switching process from weeks to 5 working days. RECCo is now building the Consumer Consent Service (CCS), which will provide a standardised mechanism for consumers to grant, manage, and revoke consent for their energy data to be shared with third parties - a key piece of the puzzle for resolving the consent vs system need tension from Module 1.

DCC: the smart meter network

DCC operates the smart meter communications infrastructure, the largest machine-to-machine network in GB. The national smart-meter estate connects across two Wide Area Network regions: VMO2 provides cellular connectivity for the south and central regions, while Arqiva operates a radio mesh network for the north. DCC is currently managing a major technology transition from 2G/3G to 4G communications (as mobile operators retire legacy networks), and is launching the Virtual Wide Area Network (VWAN) in 2026 to provide additional connectivity options.

ElectraLink: the data backbone

ElectraLink has operated the Data Transfer Service (DTS) for over 25 years, making it the longest-running energy data platform in GB. The DTS uses D-flow file formats to transfer data between market participants, handling everything from meter registrations to change-of-supplier flows. ElectraLink also administers the Distribution Connection and Use of System Agreement (DCUSA), giving it a unique position bridging distribution network data and market data.

Xoserve: gas data and the enquiry services

The four bodies above sit on the electricity and switching side. Gas has its own central custodian. Xoserve runs the gas Central Data Service Provider function under the Uniform Network Code, operating UK Link for gas registration and settlement and the Gemini system for transmission capacity. Its enquiry services are how most parties request gas data, so the naming matters: the Gas and Electricity Enquiry Services (GES) replaced the older Data Enquiry Service (DES) on 18 July 2022, so any reference to a live “DES” is now out of date.

The critical insight from mapping these 40+ organisations is that every single one is both a producer and a consumer of energy data. Government produces policy and regulatory decisions; it consumes compliance reports and market data. Networks produce SCADA telemetry and asset data; they consume metering data and settlement results. Suppliers produce billing data and demand forecasts; they consume meter readings and wholesale prices.

Data flows bidirectionally through this ecosystem, not just top-down from government to industry. A smart meter reading flows up from your home to DCC, across to your supplier, through to Elexon for settlement, and the settlement results flow back to inform network planning at NESO and investment decisions at the DNO. Policy decisions from DESNZ flow down through Ofgem's licence conditions, but operational data from networks flows back up to inform those same policy decisions.

Compare this to the Nordic approach. Norway's Elhub acts as a single hub: meter data goes in, and every authorised party can access what they need from one place. GB's fragmented system, with five or more separate platforms, means the same data often needs to be sent to multiple destinations, in different formats, under different governance frameworks. The Data Sharing Infrastructure (DSI) aims to connect these platforms, but as of early 2026, governance and funding remain unresolved.

There is a practical shortcut hidden in this organisation map. In GB you rarely find a dataset by searching for the data; you find it by knowing which institution is obliged to hold it. The licence conditions and industry codes that create each body also hand it a specific data custody, so the institutional map doubles as a data catalogue. Most “where do I get X?” questions resolve the moment you can name the holder.

• NESO. System operation and balancing data, the Future Energy Scenarios, the NESO Data Portal, and coordination of the emerging Data Sharing Infrastructure.
• Elexon. The Balancing and Settlement Code, half-hourly settlement data, the Insights open-data service, the flexibility market-facilitator role, and the Smart Data Repository it is due to run from autumn 2026.
• DCC. The smart-meter Wide Area Network across the national estate, and operation of the Central Switching Service that moves customers between suppliers.
• RECCo. The Retail Energy Code, the gas and electricity enquiry services, and the consumer consent solution that lets people authorise data sharing.
• Xoserve. The gas Central Data Service Provider function: UK Link for gas registration and settlement, and Gemini for transmission capacity.
• DNOs and DSOs. Long Term Development Statements, Distribution Future Energy Scenarios, the Embedded Capacity Register, and network capacity heatmaps for their 14 licence areas.
• National Gas. Operational and capacity data for the gas National Transmission System, as its owner and operator.
• Ofgem. Licence conditions, the Data Best Practice guidance that sets the rules for the datasets above, and regulatory and market-monitoring data.
• DESNZ. Government energy statistics and the policy datasets that sit behind the decarbonisation targets.

This is why the rest of the course is organised the way it is. Once you can name the holder, you can find the register, the access route, and the licence condition that governs it. And when a body takes on a new role, the data map moves with it.