Provide Meter Data Request

For a Provide Meter Data Request (PMDR) bulk upload, the contents of every line in the CSV file must use the following format:

<from_role>, <nmi>, <start_read_date>, <end_read_date>, <to_participant>, <read_type>

Note:  No header row is required for the PMDR CSV file.

Field Format Mandatory Definition
from_role Either “LNSP” or “MDP” Yes Valid Initiator for transaction according to market rules
nmi Text (10 or 11 characters) Yes NMI, checksum is optional.
start_read_date DD/MM/YYYY Yes The start date of the request
end_read_date DD/MM/YYYY Yes The end date of the request
to_participant Text Yes/No A valid MDP participant. This is mandatory where From Role = MDP, but optional where From Role = LNSP.
read_type One of Missing, Substitute, Estimate, or Other No Indicates why the PMDR was raised. This is information only and will not be sent to the MDP or affect processing.

MTS will apply the following validation rules to the entire file. If any of these conditions are met, the entire file will be rejected. In the case of multiple errors, only the first one encountered is reported.

Order Validation Description Message
1 Too many columns A row has too many columns specified. Too many columns (i.e. extra commas)
2 Too few columns A row does not have enough columns specified. Too few columns
3 Too many rows The file has more than 1000 rows. Too many rows (> 1000)

MTS will apply the following validation rules to each record in the file. If any of these conditions are met, the row will be skipped and an error reported. If there are multiple errors identified with a row, only the first one encountered is reported.

Order Validation Description Message
1 Invalid NMI A row has the mandatory “NMI” field that doesn’t have exactly 10 or 11 characters (after white space has been trimmed). “<NMI>” is not a valid 10- or 11-character value
2 Invalid Start Read Date A row is missing the mandatory “Start Read Date” field, or it is not a valid DD/MM/YYYY date. Start Read Date invalid
3 Invalid End Date A row contains a value in the “End Read Date” field, but it is not a valid DD/MM/YYYY date. End Read Date invalid
4 Invalid End Date A row has “End Read Date” < “Start Read Date”. End Date earlier than Start Date
5 Invalid Recipient The From Role = “MDP” and the To Participant is missing or not a valid MDP for the business, or The From Role = “LNSP” and the To Participant is not one of the MDP(s) that are responsible for the NMI within the selected date range (a blank To Participant field is allowed in this situation, and MTS will determine the correct recipients). Invalid recipient
6 Unknown NMI Does not match any NMI in MTS. NMI does not exist in MTS
7 Abolished NMI NMI is marked as Abolished in MTS for the whole period being requested. NMI is abolished in MTS
8 Business is MDP The MDP role was occupied by the business for the whole period being requested (at no point was there an external MDP). This check will be applied only to rows where the From Role = “LNSP”. The business is the MDP for the requested period in MTS
9 PMDR already sent today The PMDR has been sent for the same NMI today with the same Start Read Date and End Read Date (excluding PMDRs that have been Rejected). PMDR already sent for NMI today

Note: 

  • MTS will remove any leading and trailing white space characters from each field when parsing the CSV file. Therefore, any mandatory field for which only white space characters are supplied is considered missing.
  • No validation will be undertaken for rows that exactly or partly duplicate other rows.
  • No validation will be performed to ensure that the PMDR start date is within the last 13 months.
  • No validation will be performed to ensure the end read date is not later than today minus X calendar days, where X refers to the regulated period for the delivery of MDFF Data (a PMDR is not meant to be sent until this period has expired).
  • No validation will be performed if an NMI checksum is provided; the checksum will simply be dropped when the file is loaded.