This article was published in February 2013 and has not been updated. It may not reflect the current position.
There is no equivalent of a full Method M workbook available from http://dcmf.co.uk/models/. However, there are some models which implement parts of Method M and which are potentially useful to analyse the effect of some changes in input data or in cost allocation rules.
DCP 128 and DCP 129 would replace the existing DNO-specific workbooks for Method M (calculation of LDNO discount factors) with DCUSA-issued workbooks.
The workbooks presented to the February 2013 DCUSA panel meeting for these DCPs do not seem to work, because formulas related to 2007/2008 allowed revenue and incentives and to non-load-related capital expenditure are missing. Update: apparently this was an administrative error.
I think that the, in order to reconcile the discounts published by DNOs in recent pricing notices with other published information about Method M, it is necessary to add DNO-specific (not common) formulas in the areas where the common template has missing formulas. Update: the corrected model has formulas that give matching results for ENW, SPEN and WPD areas.
I have tried to reconcile published Method M input data with the discounts that each DNO has used in December 2012 indicative price notices. The results are embedded in the various datasets available with the model rules "Method M after DCP095 and DCP096 (from 1 April 2012)" from http://dcmf.co.uk/models/. I have not yet checked whether anything relevant has changed in the February 2013 price notices.
http://dcmf.co.uk/models/ provides electricity charging models and related tools on a free and open source basis. You can take these models, or the underlying code, and modify them however you like and use or distribute (or sell) the models or your modified versions as you like with few restrictions. The site is not in any way endorsed by DCUSA Limited or any electricity company.
The starting point for the Method M tools on http://dcmf.co.uk/models/ was a set of modelling code which the Competitive Networks Association commissioned from me, and subsequently allowed to be open sourced.
I have adopted a standard open source software commercial strategy for this service. It involves a core system which is freely available on an open-source basis, and paid services for associated consultancy, training, testing and implementation tasks.
The commercial logic for this approach rests on the fact that I need to maintain and update the core system in order to make the paid-for services attractive. For some changes, including DCP 094–097 and DCP 117, this natural incentive is enough for me to keep up with CDCM developments. It has not been enough to keep me up to speed with EDCM developments, but perhaps this merely reflects the limited commercial significance of EDCM Method M.
Hypothetically, for some future complex changes, a financial contribution from an interested party (who accepts the open-source approach) might be necessary in order to sponsor the addition of the relevant features to the core system. We shall see how this works if and when the issue arises.
Franck Latrémolière, 27 February 2013