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SSC vs MTC

Metering

A side-by-side of the legacy Meter Timeswitch Code and the MHHS Standard Settlement Configuration: both describe a meter's register and time-switching setup, but the SSC is nationally standardised and four digits.

Both the Meter Timeswitch Code (MTC) and the Standard Settlement Configuration (SSC) describe how a meter is configured: how many registers it has and which time periods each register records. The MTC is the legacy field; the SSC is its MHHS replacement.

The key differences:

MTC (legacy)SSC (MHHS)
Length3 digits4 digits
Position in MPAN3 to 5 of 213 to 6 of 22
ScopeDNO-specific (same code can differ by region)Nationally standardised
SourceFrozen in MDDREC Portal (enduring)
Linked timing rulesTPRsTPRs

Why the move was made: The biggest weakness of the MTC was that it was DNO-specific: the same code could mean different things in different regions, which made validation and migration harder. The SSC removes that ambiguity with a single national set of configurations. Both still link to one or more Time Pattern Regimes (TPRs), which define the exact half-hours each register captures.

During the transition: Legacy meters keep MTC-based configuration until they migrate. Migrated smart meters typically take SSC 0000. There is no single published crosswalk mapping every MTC to its SSC, so systems running both formats must hold each set of reference data.

Example

MTC 845 (3-digit, DNO-specific) maps conceptually to an SSC such as 0393 (4-digit, national) for an equivalent configuration

Related terms

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