Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement: What It Means for Your Business

From October 2025, the UK energy market began the transitioning of 30 million electricity meters to Half-Hourly (HH) Settlement as part of the Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) programme. For many businesses, particularly those in the retail sector, this could mean unavoidable compliance deadlines that will impact budgets and operations.

At Assured Energy, we understand the importance of adapting to new compliance, whilst maintaining an energy strategy that benefits your business.

In this article, we outline everything retail businesses need to know about the MHHS programme, as well as how you can stay compliant, informed and in control of your energy strategy.

What is the Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) Programme?

The Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) is an initiative introduced by the UK government and led by Ofgem, to modernise the electricity market by moving all electricity consumption to a half-hourly metering basis instead of the current system.

Ofgem has introduced new regulations for energy suppliers to ensure greater visibility of electricity consumption, resulting in improved transparency for energy customers. By upgrading all meters so they will collect usage data on a half-hourly basis. This will offer more granular data on how, when and where energy is used, which will in turn assist the government’s drive for businesses to become more energy efficient.

Due to a volatile and challenging economic climate, the UK’s retail sector is facing tightening operational budgets and rising overhead costs. This environment makes the new MHHS programme a real challenge for retail businesses, especially larger, multi-site retailers whose sites carry many of the traditional Non-Half Hourly (NHH) meters that need upgrading.

The market-wide half hourly settlement meter rollout comes with a hard deadline of May 2027, by which all sites need to have had meters converted. This date has already been pushed back, so it is essential that businesses understand what this means for them and don’t delay in taking action.

However, there is still time for businesses to prepare for the MHHS programme, take control of their energy and avoid operational issues and hidden costs.

What Will the Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement Mean for Retail Businesses?

The introduction of the MHHS Programme will undoubtedly impact retail businesses, with both potential risks that need to be addressed, as well as benefits that can be taken advantage of.

Potential risks to retail businesses

One of the biggest challenges businesses will face regarding this change is the uncertainty around cost and the meter instalment process.

Although the energy supplier is legally obligated to appoint a meter operator and data collector who will organise this process, businesses would benefit from arranging this themselves, as they will have full control in choosing their preferred operator and greater visibility of costs, which can be factored into their budgets.

If businesses delay this process by choosing not to take action, this will leave their supplier in control of the process, which could result in different sites being addressed at different times, causing issues when it comes to planning. Being in control of your installation schedule will help to minimise the risk of disruptive power outages affecting operations.

Lack of engineer availability can also affect the timescale of half hourly meter upgrades, making early action essential to ensure smooth delivery with minimal hiccups.

Consultus International has been able to successfully upgrade 30 properties for a multi-site retail operator within two months, with data flowing from the first working day, which shows that the process isn’t something that happens overnight.

Potential benefits to retail businesses

Although the MHHS programme is mandatory, the changeover will result in a wealth of benefits for retail businesses.

Most significantly, moving from estimated billing to more accurate, half-hourly billing will mean businesses are paying for exactly the amount of energy they use, eliminating the risk of underpaying or overpaying on bills. This also makes it much easier to budget effectively and quickly spot patterns where further savings could be made.

Once upgraded, new Half-Hourly meters will allow businesses to access Time of Use (TOU) tariffs that were previously inaccessible with Non-Half-Hourly meters. This is a great way for businesses to benefit from lower rates during off-peak energy hours, by shifting energy-intensive operations away from peak times.

From a sustainability perspective, the more detailed data that can be obtained from these meter upgrades will be valuable in supporting energy efficiency initiatives.

Regardless of supplier, businesses will be able to access five years’ worth of data, allowing them to track and analyse historical consumption data as well as manage usage going forward. This is an effective way to monitor the success of any energy saving investments and report against sustainability goals.

Finally, Half-Hourly data also allows for faster delivery flow between providers, meaning that faults, issues, or loss of data communication can be identified and fixed much quicker.

What Should Your Business Do Ahead of the MHHS Programme?

The first step retail businesses should take in preparation of the MHHS programme is to review their portfolio of sites that still operate with Non-Half-Hourly meters.

Then the person responsible (usually in estates, contracts or procurement management) will need to find and arrange a direct contract with an accredited meter provider.

Another option would be to approach an external consultant who can use their expertise and industry knowledge to help manage the entire process end-to-end, ensuring that complex logistics, particularly for multi-site retailers are handled effectively.

This would involve a full portfolio review and finding the most competitive and well-suited meter contract to manage the full rollout process.

For any retail business with a multi-site portfolio, it is crucial to consider the time needed for this rollout to take place and to start as soon as possible. By taking proactive measures now, the retail industry can gain cost certainty, better manage the MHHS programme implementation and immediately unlock the five-year data stream.

Businesses can also leverage this shift to gain a competitive edge, benefit from greater billing accuracy, access flexible Time of Use tariffs, and finally put their business on a credible, data-validated path towards net zero carbon.

For more information and find out how we can support your business with its metering requirements visit our website or get in touch today.

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