Introduction to MTS

Itron's Market Transaction Suite (MTS) is designed to receive and send market transactions to various market participants. It can be tailored to support different business and market rules. For example, within the Australian market, MTS is compliant with the Australian Electricity Market Operator (AEMO), and hence supports the Australian rules, validations, file formats, and protocols. MTS interfaces with the IEE (Itron Enterprise Edition) MDM (Meter Data Management) system and is designed for scale, particularly with regard to automated metering infrastructure (AMI) volumes and service level agreements (SLAs).

Important!  MTS is not a Meter Data Management system. It uses IEE as the MDM. Customized IEE adapters support additional functionality, such as exporting fresh reads, forecast estimation of interval and register data, and importing files in the National Electricity Market (NEM) file format. For adapter details, refer to IEE documentation.

MTS can be implemented to conform to the AEMO standards applicable to the business. Each business operating in the market does so in one or more specialized fields, known as roles. For example:

  • Distribution Network, role = LNSP (Local Network Service Provider)
  • Retailer, role = FRMP (Financially Responsible Market Participant)
  • Meter Data Provider, role = MDP/MPC (Meter Data Provider / Meter Provider Collection)
  • Meter Provider, role = MPB (Meter Provider Business)
  • Metering Coordinator, role = MC (Metering Coordinator, previously known as RP for Responsible Person)

A business may choose to operate under more than one role. The business registers as a market participant with AEMO and is given a participant code to operate in its role.

Note:  The same participant code can be used for more than one role.

The AEMO rules and guidelines are complex and sometimes open to interpretation. MTS is therefore highly configurable to meet the flexibility of each business operating in different market roles needed in this environment.

Additionally, the activities that a specific business performs in the market are typically only a subset of all possible activities. Some businesses' systems are able to support some of these activities without requiring MTS. Therefore, MTS consists of several modules, which can be implemented independently.

MTS enables the business to perform the following tasks:

  • Support the management of customer and network data, primarily within the business’s system, typically referred to as a Customer Information System (CIS)
  • Manage transactions with AEMO via their Market Settlement and Transfer Solution (MSATS) system:
    • Send transactions to MSATS based on work that is completed in CIS
    • Update CIS based on transactions received from MSATS
  • Manage B2B communication directly with other market participants:
    • Provide and receive meter data, meter configuration, customer and site details
    • Service orders, one-way notifications
    • Billing and handling disputes and remittance
  • Raise Activity entries based on the need for a business decision and the need for manual work
  • Allow users to intervene with transactions where required (for example, new connections and life support)
  • Provide an audit trail of transaction history and user actions