Summary

  • DCC says its smart-meter communications business transferred to DCC 2 Ltd on 2 November 2026. Live services and billing now sit with the new licensee.
  • Smart DCC Ltd remains the holder of the old licence until 22 September 2027. Its residual team must finish price-control, financial, governance and regulatory reporting work, using operational evidence from DCC2 where needed.

The network moved on Monday. The paperwork did not. On 2 November, DCC confirmed the transfer of Britain’s smart-meter communications service from Smart DCC Ltd to DCC 2 Ltd. The new company now operates the service and bills its users. Customers keep the same day-to-day service access, but payments go to a new legal entity. Existing cash deposits and letters of credit also crossed over; DCC says the transfer alone put no customer into credit-cover default.

The former operator is still alive, and still regulated. Residual DCC1’s own account says Smart DCC Ltd retains the first Smart Meter Communication Licence until 22 September 2027. It no longer runs operational smart-meter services. Instead, a small team must close out price-control duties, financial obligations, governance requirements and regulatory reports from the old licence. That team relies on DCC2 for operational data, systems access, technical expertise and supporting evidence when needed. The live operator and the entity answering for the earlier licence are now separate companies, owned by different parents.

Ofgem anticipated that split. Its decision page says DCC1 would stop carrying on Authorised Business at transfer while remaining a licence holder. The signed disapplication direction removes old operating, service, charging and security conditions from DCC1 at midnight on 2 November. One intellectual-property condition ends separately at midnight on 30 November. The regulator did not simply tear up the old licence when the keys changed hands; it pared back duties that belonged with a functioning operator and left a residual accountable shell.

DCC2, wholly owned by Smart Energy Code Company Ltd, received its new licence in April. Its framework brings a not-for-profit model and advance price control. DCC1 remains a Capita subsidiary. DCC’s customer page says the service itself is unchanged by the corporate transfer. The transfer alters who has legal authority to deliver it, issue invoices and hold credit cover. A new DCC2 charging statement has been published; charges for a period before transfer still use the statement that governed that period.

This handoff has an unglamorous test. Can the old company produce accurate accounts and regulatory answers from a network it no longer operates? Its own page says it needs access to the successor’s data. That dependency runs until the old licence expires next September. The immediate record to inspect is the new charging statement and customer billing, followed by Residual DCC1’s remaining reports. A service can change hands in a day; its evidence trail has to survive eleven more months.