Introduction

For those Customers that are currently with nPower, the format of the Electricity EDI Tradacoms File is changing as part of their migration to a new billing platform. Customers are being moved over to a new Billing Platform by nPower is tranches and they will inform you when you are due to change over.

Changes have been made in Sigma ready to receive the new format.

There are some fundamental changes to the format of the EDI file which are explained in more detail in this page and how Sigma has been changed to accommodate it.

The Sigma Support Team are here to help you through this transition, so please don't hesitate to contact us for any help with getting your system ready for the new billing format. You can contact us in the usual ways.

Note, if you do not use NPower for your EDI Billing or not intending on moving to them, please ignore this page.

Key Changes

The key change that nPower are accommodating with the new format is “Premise” level billing. This is the billing of multiple supplies at the same location in a single invoice.

Premise Definition

a building or collection of buildings in close geographical proximity, owned or occupied by one customer within a defined curtilage on one site, where each building serves the other in some necessary or reasonable useful way.

Historically, the billing has typically been done on a 1 MPAN to 1 Account basis so that each invoice reflects the charges for a single MPAN. However, where you have multiple MPANs at the same location, it is now possible that these will be grouped together and billed on the same Account/Invoice and some of the existing accounts are no longer used.

As a result of this, Sigma now has the option to:

1) Load the EDI Invoice “as is” and provide the total aggregated view of charges across all MPANs in the invoice; or

2) Split the EDI Invoice “by MPAN” and capture an individual bill for each MPAN in the invoice to provide the supply level charge breakdown

You have the option to choose which processing method you would prefer - this is configured against the new USM after it has been setup as per the screenshots below.

Split by MPAN Processing

In order to accommodate this “split by MPAN” capability, it requires that an Account in Sigma exists for each MPAN, where the Account Number reflects the MPAN Core. This is the case even if an Account only contains one MPAN.
For example, in the scenario where there are 3 nPower Billing Accounts as per the list below, then this would result in 5 Accounts in Sigma (MPAN1, MPAN2, MPAN3, MPAN4 and MPAN5).

The “Group ID” on the Account item would reflect the actual nPower Account Number. This means that the relevant Supply Level Accounts in Sigma can be found when searching using the nPower Account Number.

ACC1 – MPAN1
ACC1 – MPAN2
ACC1 – MPAN3
ACC2 – MPAN4
ACC3 – MPAN5

When Sigma is processing the EDI file, it will identify the MPANs on an individual invoice and split that invoice into the charges for each of the supplies and capture these as individual bills in Sigma for granular reporting and visibility purposes.

For example, if an EDI file contained an invoice for the 3 supplies in ACC1 above, this would be created as three individual bills in Sigma, each with the same invoice number under the respective MPAN Account.

The VAT in the invoice is charged against the total across all supplies rather than the specific proportion for each of the individual supplies. Therefore, if Sigma is configured to split the Invoices by MPAN, the VAT liability will be split across the three individual bills that get created as per their relative proportion of the overall bill value. This will be in the context of each VAT Rate (i.e. Standard and Domestic). As information is not provided as to which Charges and MPANs the different VAT charges relate to, it is not possible to attribute the VAT to the MPANs any differently.

For example, a bill has the following total values:

Total Bill Net - £10,000

Total 20% VAT - £1,500
Total 5% VAT - £125

Total Gross - £11,625

The VAT is then apportioned across the individual MPANs as follows:

Supply	Net MPAN Total	VAT Proportion	20% VAT Amount	5% VAT Amount	Gross MPAN Total
MPAN1	£5,000.00	£5,000 / £10,000 = 50%	50% * £1,500 = £750.00	50% * £125 = £62.50	£5,812.50
MPAN2	£2,000.00	£2,000 / £10,000 = 20%	20% * £1,500 = £300.00	20% * £125 = £25.00	£2,325.00
MPAN3	£3,000.00	£2,000 / £10,000 = 30%	30% * £1,500 = £450.00	30% * £125 = £37.50	£3,487.50
TOTAL	£10,000.00		£1,500.00	£125.00	£11,625

The system will make sure any "rounding" differences are accommodated by ensuring that when doing the last MPAN VAT split calculation, it includes any rounding differences to ensure that the VAT across the MPANs adds up to exactly what was charged on the bill.

When loading a Bill with the "Split by MPAN" option enabled, it will create individual bills for the relevant Account for the applicable MPANS charges from the total bill. For example for one invoice with 2 MPANs, you would see two lines when the Batch has been loaded:

How do I know if it is the new Format

Based on the Filename

It is possible to determine which is the new format vs. the old format when looking at the filename of the EDI file.

The existing format will have a filename like the following:

relay.CUSTOMERNAME.20210813.010649.001

The new format will have a filename like the following:

relay.CUSTOMERNAME001.20211028.001657.4b8731b7

The difference is the “001” or “002” type number being after the customer name at the beginning rather than at the end of the file, as highlighted in red above.

Based on the File Contents

When opening the files, the existing format ha the word "FULL" at the end of a number of lines. It also does also contain the MPAN Core against each of the charge lines.

Old Format

New Format

Moving to the new nPower EDI Format

A second USM (Utility Specific Module) has been added to Sigma, called NPower Electricity Tradacoms and the previous one has been renamed Legacy NPower Tradacoms. The legacy nPower Tradacoms USM will be kept as it will be needed if loading older bills, and you are being rebilled for a historical period.

you will need to use this new version of the USM for any new "test" files that have been received from nPower.
- See the section below of how you can tell if the EDI file is in the new format
the existing USM that you currently used for loading the current bills will remain the same and will point to the Legacy interface (i.e. the name that you see in the EDI Batch Load screen).

In order to configure the interface to split out the bills by MPAN, and ensure the costs are calculated correctly, you need to add the Supplier in the EDI Supplier Setup and make some adjustments.

For general help on setting up the USM, click here: Adding a new EDI Supplier

Adding the NPower USM

Open EDI Supplier Setup Activity and add the NPower Electricity Tradacom New USM. For additional help setting up the USM, click here: Adding a new EDI Supplier

Once the USM has been added:

Right click on the USM - NPower Electricity Tradacoms New
- Click Setup USM

The Setup Module pop up appears

Record producer - change to Electricity bill production by MPAN
Tick - Adjust Meter Reads to 1 Decimal Place
Tick - Automatically extend bill period to cover to cover read period(s)
Click OK to save

Then make some changes to the Validation:

Click on the arrow to open the Validation section for the USM and amend the following:

Capacity Validation
- Tick Allow Unit Rate Modifications

Duos Capacity Validation
- Tick Allow Unit Rate Modifications

Excess Capacity Validation
- Tick Capacity Daily Charging

Reactive Power Validation
- Tick Allow Unit Rate Modifications

Split by MPAN

When this option is selected, when processing the EDI files that are loaded, the system will look at all the MPANs in a bill, and group together all the charges for the individual MPANs. It will then use the MPAN to find the Account Number for that MPAN. It will then create a bill for that MPAN under the applicable account.

For example if an EDI file contained an invoice for January 2021 with individual charges for 3 MPANs, the system would expect that 3 different "Accounts" exist in Sigma which are called the 3 respective MPAN Cores. It would then create an individual bill for each MPAN for the January 2021 period with the applicable charges. It would then proportionately assign the VAT across all 3 MPANs as per the logic above.

If the Account Number is not the MPAN Core, then the EDI Batch Management screen will show the error "Unable to find Account"

Aggregated

The "standard electricity bill production" option will load the bills as they exist in the EDI file against the applicable Account Number that has been specified. For example, if an invoice contains three sets of charges for three MPANs, it will create a single bill against the appropriate account and it will not be possible to see an MPAN level view of the charges - just the total of all the MPANs.

Is it the new Format EDI?

There are a couple of ways you can see if the EDI file you have received is the new format or not.

To check, you will need to open up the EDI file in a text Editor such as Notepad or Notepad++. There are couple of key ways to tell:

Where the file contains CCD Lines which include the MPAN on each line, then this indicates it is the new format. The legacy format does not output the MPANs on each line like this.
Where the file contains the "FULL" word at the end of most lines, then this would indicate its the legacy format. The new format does not end each line like this.

Loading with Electricity bill production by MPAN option

Simple example bill containing two MPANs

MHD=3+UTLBIL:3'
CLO=0000200152470::TEST1234+Test Location+TEST12345:LOCATION:TEST CITY:STREET ADDRESS:POST CODE'
BCD=210217+210217+INV0001++M+N++200801:200831'
PYT=1+Standard Payment Terms - 21 Days+2103021:0'
DNA=1++PH:08001382322:EM:group.support.services@npower.com:WEB:www.npower.com/nbs:DNO:Call 105, C'
CCD=1+1::NPC+NCO:ALL TIMES+995+METER1/S+1200026372112+200830+200801+30+967:00:942:00++25000:KWH+MM:10000+2500:KWH'
CCD=2+1::NPC+NCO:ALL TIMES+995+METER1/S+1200026372112+200831+200831+1+968:02:967:00++1000:KWH+MM:10000+100:KWH'
CCD=3+3::NPC+NCO:ALL TIMES+995++1200026372112+++31++2600:KWH++++1047600+2600:KWH+200801+200831+1047600+027++L'
CCD=4+4::SCH+SCD:Standing Daily Charge+++1200026372112+++31++31000:DAYS++++2048500+31000:DAYS+200801+200831+2048500+635++L'
CCD=5+2::AVM+AMR:Flexible Purchasing Reconciliation+++1200026372112+++31++++++++200801+200831++000++L'
CCD=6+2::RNW+OBF:Renewable Obligation Forecast+++1200026372112+++31++2600:KWH++++236682+2600:KWH+200801+200831+236682+006++L'
CCD=7+2::FIT+FTE:Feed in Tariff Estimate+++1200026372112+++31++2600:KWH++++079345+2600:KWH+200801+200831+079345+002++L'
CCD=8+2::CFD+CFC:Forecast Charge+++1200026372112+++31++2600:KWH++NBP:111538+++2900:KWH+200801+200831++003++L'
CCD=9+1::NPC+NCO:ALL TIMES+995+METER2/S+1200026372121+200830+200801+30+404210:00:395300:00++8910000:KWH+MM:10000+891000:KWH'
CCD=10+1::NPC+NCO:ALL TIMES+995+METER2/S+1200026372121+200831+200831+1+404684:02:404210:00++474000:KWH+MM:10000+47400:KWH'
CCD=11+3::NPC+NCO:ALL TIMES+995++1200026372121+++31++938400:KWH++++1047600+938400:KWH+200801+200831+1047600+9831++L'
CCD=12+4::SCH+SCD:Standing Daily Charge+++1200026372121+++31++31000:DAYS++++2048500+31000:DAYS+200801+200831+2048500+635++L'
CCD=13+2::AVM+AMR:Flexible Purchasing Reconciliation+++1200026372121+++31++++++++200801+200831++074:R++L'
CCD=14+2::RNW+OBF:Renewable Obligation Forecast+++1200026372121+++31++938400:KWH++++236682+938400:KWH+200801+200831+236682+2221++L'
CCD=15+2::FIT+FTE:Feed in Tariff Estimate+++1200026372121+++31++938400:KWH++++079345+938400:KWH+200801+200831+079345+745++L'
CCD=16+2::CFD+CFC:Forecast Charge+++1200026372121+++31++938400:KWH++NBP:110166+++1033800:KWH+200801+200831++1066++L'
MAN=16+1+12:0002637212:1:01:801:902'
MAN=16+2+12:0002637211:2:01:801:902'
VAT=1+31+0+L+5000+15097+755+15852'
BTL=0+15097+755+0+15852'
MTR=26'

When processing via the Load Batch activity, the USM will create two separate bills using the MPAN highlighted as the Account Number for each bill and is also used to identify the relevant charges.

Additional Premise Bill Validation

In order to try keep the Premise Level bill intact for payment purposes and prevent users from loading one child MPAN and not the other, some additional validation has been implemented when loading the bills to the accounts.

Parent Bill ID - This is a new column available on an EDI batch. Each child MPAN that makes up a parent Premise Bill will have the same ID and is used to apply the validation. This is not a piece of data which appears on the bill receive by the supplier, it is a unique identifier created by Sigma to group the child MPAN charges together.
Loading/unloading Bills to an account - when moving one child MPAN, all other child MPANs will also be moved
Failed Bills - If you attempt to load a child MPAN bill and another child MPAN is at validation status failed, the user will be prevented from doing so and presented with a warning in the Status Notes column. The user can review the validation failure and toggle to Passed or use Copy Failed Bill To Account.

Viewing a Supplier bill that has been split into individual Sigma MPAN Accounts

Within the EDI Batch Management screen, it is possible to add the Invoice Number to the table of data for a particular batch.

This can be done by right clicking on the table header selecting columns and then ensuring there is a ick next to "Invoice No."

Next, you can "Group By" the Invoice No which will show you all the individual Sigma Bills that have ben created for each MPAN as part of that Invoice.

This can be done by right clicking on the "Invoice No." table header selecting columns and selecting the "Group by Invoice No." option.

This will now show multiple rows (if applicable) under the relevant Invoice Numbers.

Each of the rows will represent the bill details for one of the MPANs on the parent Bill. The sum of each row represents the total Invoice value.

It is also possible to right click on any of the individual MPAN level bills and choose the "View EDI Bill" option which will show a representation of the bill as it had been received in the EDI file, before it has been split into the separate bill charges by Sigma:

What do I need to do to be able to load the new format?

The following steps will need to be followed in order to get Sigma to load the file as required:

1) Determine whether you will adopt the "Split by MPAN" or "Aggregated" billing option when loading the nPower bills into Sigma.

This can be best advised if you know how your Account and MPAN structure will change as a result of the new billing format - nPower will need to provide you with this information and should be able to provide you with the Account Numbers and which MPANs are billed on that Account going forwards. This may include MPANs moving from their existing Account Number into another existing Account at the same premises.

Click here for the template file.

Where the Account Structure is changing to support premise level billing multiple MPANs per nPower billing Account (as per the above), TEAM recommend that the MPAN splitting option is selected to allow you to maintain an MPAN level view of the charges.
Where the Account Structure is not changing and effectively represents one Account per MPAN, then no updates re required to the structure of your database

In summary, where the split by MPAN option is selected, an individual Account will need to exist in Sigma where the Account Number is the MPAN Core, even if it is billed as part of a single nPower billing account. Where the aggregated option is selected, the Accounts in Sigma will need to align with the nPower Account numbers.

2) Check the current setup in Sigma with respect to Accounts and MPAN relationships and ensure this aligns with the nPower provided structure (via the Supply Point)

TEAM can help you perform this step, however it is absolutely vital we are provided with a view of the updated relationships between MPANs and Account Numbers for all MPANs.

3) Migrate existing Account Numbers (where necessary)

This is to change the existing Account Number to the MPAN Core, where they are being grouped to an existing parent Account. the existing Account number will be maintained in the background as an "Account history" so that if a historical legacy bill from nPower is received, Sigma is able to find the Account based on the old Account Number and put the bill in the right place.

This is achieved using the Supply Migration activity in Sigma, and the "Account Migration" option.

It will require that a Start Date for the change is specified - this is recommended to be the start of the Billing Period that the new format is expected to be received (e.g. 01/04/2021). A CSV file will also need to be produced containing a list of the old account numbers and corresponding new account number. It should be in the format as displayed in the screenshot below on the right hand side (note the header rows are not required).

Old Account Number - the current Account Number as configured in Sigma
New Account Number - the MPAN Core that is to be billed on the update Account structure

4) Add the parent nPower Account Number to the "Group ID" field to the Account in Sigma.

This is to allow the individual MPAN level Accounts to be grouped back together in any reporting that needs to aggregate the bill values back up to the Account level.

5) Setup the new "USM" ready to receive the new EDI file and configure it to use the "MPAN" or "Aggregate" option as confirmed in Step 1.

This is so files of the new format can be loaded and processed, as required.

The Sigma Support Team are here to help you with any step of this process, so please do not hesitate to contact us if you are unsure of what you should do or would like to clarify any of the above.

Contact Support on support@teamenergy.com for further information or to discuss your changeover.

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