Meter Operator

The Meter Operator (MOP) is the licensed entity that physically owns, installs, commissions and maintains a half-hourly electricity meter, the associated communications equipment and any current transformers. For HH supplies, the MOP contract is separate from both the energy supply contract and the data-collection / data-aggregation contract, and is signed directly with the customer.

MOP services include:

• Initial installation, commissioning and certification of the meter.
• Routine maintenance and re-certification on the regulatory cycle.
• Fault response when the meter fails or loses communication.

For non-half-hourly profile-class supplies, the meter is owned by the supplier or the supplier's appointed MOP under a bundled arrangement, and the customer is not generally involved in the MOP contract directly.

In procurement, two issues arise routinely. First, when a half-hourly site changes energy supplier, the MOP contract does not transfer automatically — it must either be retained, novated or replaced. Second, MOP charges vary materially between providers, and tendering the MOP contract independently of the energy supply contract typically produces savings that are easier to lock in than energy-side savings, because the MOP market is small and pricing is relatively transparent.