An Open Energy Steering Group was convened on Thursday 7 May 2026. The Steering Group comprises a wide range of industry leaders and subject matter experts spanning the commercial, regulatory and government landscapes. The Steering Group plays a critical role in Open Energy’s development, providing a sector perspective that ensures that Open Energy is designed for and with the energy industry.
Date: Thursday 7 May 2026 14:30-16:00 BST
Location: In person & online
Co-Chairs: Sara Vaughan & Gavin Starks
Secretariat: IB1
Meeting Aims:
- Events updates: feedback from webinar and details on next events
- Discuss coordination of sector digitalisation
- Update on roadmap quarterly milestones
Summary:
- It was agreed that:
- The next Steering Group meeting will take place on 2 July 2026, and it will serve as the next working forum for the SPV discussions.
- It was noted that:
- There has been progress since February 2026 on the industrial and commercial flexibility use case, including the delivery of a well-attended webinar.
- The webinar covered the market need for a data-sharing scheme, the wider smart data landscape, and the challenges and opportunities for industrial and commercial participants.
- A call was put out for two advisory groups: User needs and impact and technical implementation.
- The wider context is rapidly evolving, with significant policy, regulatory and market developments shaping the environment for data sharing and digitalisation.
- These include the joint Ofgem-DESNZ digitalisation vision, the March 2026 Smart Data Strategy, work on reformed national pricing, and the outcomes of the Ofgem review.
- Architecture work is under way, with NESO leading development of an emerging baseline view in collaboration with domain coordinators, but that this is not yet a settled or complete architecture.
- The Open Banking model was referenced as a possible example of how an SPV structure might work.
- It was discussed that:
- There is a risk of fragmentation and lack of alignment across multiple parallel initiatives if governance, standards, consent and data access approaches are not adequately coordinated.
- The proposed digitalisation coordination function is an important but still developing part of the landscape, and as a result its role, authority and practical operation remain uncertain.
- There is a central question around whether Open Energy should operate in future through an independent nonprofit SPV structure, though no conclusion was reached.
- If Open Energy were to play a future role, it is important to define where it could add value. Potential areas of value could include standards coordination, stewardship of shared semantic approaches, neutral convening between industry and regulators, Trust Framework implementation without holding data, and cross-sector coordination.
Next meeting: Thursday 2 July 2026 14:30-16:00 BST
Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat.
These are confidential to the Steering Group Members.