If you wish to make a complaint you should inform us directly using the contact details provided. If you feel that your complaint has not been handled to your satisfaction you can contact the Chair of the UCL Research Ethics Committee – [email protected]. If you remain unsatisfied, you have the right to lodge a formal complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Full details may be accessed on the complaints section of the ICO’s website.

The project is being led by University College London (UCL), in partnership with the University of Essex (UK Data Archive), Cardiff University, University of Edinburgh, Leeds Beckett University, Loughborough University, University of Southampton and the Energy Saving Trust, and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Ipsos MORI is supporting UCL with the study and is responsible for the mailings and survey. This study has been approved by the UCL Research Ethics Committee (ID – 14793/001).

With rising energy prices, rapid social and technological change, and the threat of climate change, understanding our nation’s energy needs has never been more important. Your participation will enable UK universities to carry out research to better understand how we use energy in our homes. The results will be used to inform effective government policies, drive technological innovation, and make energy consumption more secure, sustainable and affordable.

We aim to have around 10,000 households taking part in the study from across Great Britain. If you have received a letter from us your address has been selected at random from households with a smart meter. Other than your address and basic information about the meter installation, no other data has been shared with UCL up until this point.

You are not obliged to take part, but the success of the project depends on your participation. Should you choose to participate, you can withdraw at any time by logging on to the participant portal , by e-mailing us at [email protected] or by writing to Smart Energy Research Lab, UCL, 14 Upper Woburn Place,  London, WC1H 0NN.

If you choose to take part, then you will need to provide consent for UCL to access your smart meter data and you will be asked to complete a short survey. This can be done either online or by post. If you would like to request postal versions of the consent and survey forms, please email or call the helpline to request these.

Once we receive your consent, we will then start accessing your smart meter(s) data. We will do this remotely without the need to visit your address and you will not need to do anything further. We will continue to collect your smart meter data until you withdraw from the project or move home. If you wish to continue participating after you have moved home, then please let us know by contacting us. Your data will be stored securely at the UK Data Archive and made accessible through a secure environment to accredited UK researchers on approved research projects. We will contact you once per year to remind you that we are accessing your smart meter data, notify you about how we are using your data in our research, describe our results, and remind you how you can withdraw from the project. We may also invite you to complete a follow-up survey.

If you consent to participate, we will remotely access the following data from your smart meter(s):

• Half-hourly energy consumption readings (and any historic readings dating back 12 months, or less if you tell us you moved into your address less than 12 months ago)
• Information about your energy tariff
• Information about what devices are connected to your smart meter(s), such as an in-home display

UCL are an accredited Party to the Smart Energy Code (SEC), the UK legislation that governs access to smart meter data. CGI (an accredited SEC Party and DCC User) provide a technical service that connects to the national smart meter communication network (the DCC Gateway) which would remotely collect your smart meter data and securely transfer it to the UK Data Archive at Essex University (who are partners in this research project and manage your data for UCL). We would collect your data completely independently of your energy company, who would not be made aware of your participation in this project.

The value of the smart meter data greatly increases when data is linked (or combined) with other information. We will link your survey responses and smart meter data with data about your local area and your property e.g. weather data or the Energy Performance Certificate for your property, if available. We may link your data to other sources that we can lawfully hold about your address for scientific research purposes in the public interest. Linking of data will only happen with the approval of an independent research ethics committee.

Energy research is important to inform effective government policies, drive technological innovation, and make energy consumption more secure, sustainable and affordable. You may benefit indirectly from these in the future. Taking part is intended to deliver benefits to society and to future generations.

This is an observational study only so there should be no risks or disadvantages to you.

Your participation in the project will be kept strictly confidential. We commit to safeguarding your privacy and we will not share your data with any third parties other than accredited UK researchers working on approved research projects. Confidentiality will be respected subject to legal constraints and professional guidelines.

No, the data accessed for this study will not be sold and will only ever be used to conduct scientific research.

We will publish the results of our research on our website and in a variety of publications such as academic books, journals, and at conferences. Individuals and households will not be identified in any publication.

Information on your rights as a participant and how UCL uses participant information are available here.
University College London (UCL) is the Data Controller for this project. UK Data Archive and Ipsos MORI are Data Processors. The UCL Data Protection Officer provides oversight of UCL activities involving the processing of personal data. If you are concerned about how your personal data is being processed, or if you would like to contact us about your rights, please contact UCL in the first instance at [email protected] . The categories of personal data used will include: name, address, smart meter data, survey responses, and energy performance certificate data (where available). The lawful basis used to process this data is performance of a task in the public interest. In the survey, you may choose to tell us if anyone in your household is not working because of long-term sickness or disability. This is special category data and the lawful basis used to process this is scientific and historical research or statistical purposes. Your personal data will be processed as long as required for the research project. We will keep your data secure, store your contact details separately from data used for research, and minimise the processing of personal data wherever possible, in accordance with GDPR regulations.