Profile Coefficients

Profile coefficients are statistical shapes that estimate how a non-half-hourly meter's total consumption was spread across the 48 half-hours of each day. They were published in the D0018 data flow and combined with a meter's Profile Class to settle usage before actual half-hourly data was available for everyone.

How they worked: Each Profile Class (for example a standard domestic supply, or a particular business type) had an associated set of coefficients describing a typical daily and seasonal shape. Settlement applied that shape to estimate half-hourly consumption, because the meter itself only recorded a cumulative total.

Why they are being retired:

• MHHS settles meters on actual half-hourly readings, removing the need to estimate
• Elexon's Profile Administration Service, which produced the coefficients, is being decommissioned through MHHS (supplier sampling submissions ceased late 2024)
• The Load Shaping Service now derives load shapes from real data

They are not gone yet: Profile coefficients remain needed to settle and reconcile any meter that has not migrated, and to reconcile historic pre-migration periods. That reconciliation tail runs to around 2028, after which the data can be archived rather than maintained.