NMI discovery

A NMI See Relevant Rules or Procedures (National Meter Identifier) is used for recording the energy usage for a specific consumer. Examples of consumers are houses, apartments and streetlights.

Using NMI Discovery you can identify a specific NMI for settlement, auditing, and discovery purposes:

  1. End-use Customer’s NMI and NMI Checksum if they cannot provide it.

  2. Enough Standing Data about the NMI to provide a quote for the End-use Customer.

  3. For NSPs or ENMs, confirm the details returned are correct as identified by the Change Request.

NSPs are restricted to performing NMI Discovery to those NMIs for which they have the LNSP Role The role a company has with a connection point in CATS. A single company can have more than one role associated with a NMI., and ENMs are restricted to those Child NMIs where they have an LNSP Role.

The examples in this section use the MSATS Market Settlement and Transfer Solutions. The procedures published by AEMO under clause 7.2.8 of the National Electricity Rules, which include those governing the recording of financial responsibility for energy flows at a connection point, the transfer of that responsibility between market participants, and the recording of energy flows at a connection point. Web Portal NMI Discovery, they assume you are familiar with the NMI Discovery interface.

Access to NMI data depends on the NMI Discovery Field Access Rules The National Gas or Electricity rules. and the Search Key Rules. For details, see Rules.

There are three types of NMI Discovery:

  1. NMI Discovery Search 1 (NMID1)

Find a NMI and the NMI Checksum A number, one digit in length, used to validate that a NMI supplied to CATS is a valid. using one or any combination of: End-use Customer’s address, the address’s DPID Delivery point identifier. An Australia Post assigned identifier that is a numeric descriptor for a postal delivery point equal to a physical address., or Meter Serial ID A serial number that uniquely identifies each metering installation record associated with a NMI..

  1. NMI Discovery Search 2 (NMID2)

Enter a NMI and NMI Checksum See NMI checksum. to obtain Standing Data about the NMI. The returned information assists new Retailers to prepare a quote for the End-use Customer.

  1. NMI Discovery Search 3 (NMID3)

Find a NMI and Reason Code to obtain the details of the previous FRMP Financially Responsible Market Participant, usually a retailer, Generator, Market Customer or a Market Small Generator Aggregator, identified in respect of a connection point. Responsible for dealings with AEMO in relation to a specific load. for the NMI.

Used when there is a transfer error and the current FRMP wants to revert the site to the previous FRMP.

For step-by-step instructions about using the MSATS Web Portal NMI Discovery, see Guide to MSATS Web Portal.

Structured addresses

MSATS supports structured addresses only based on the Australian Standard.

NMI discovery search 1 – NMI discovery

This search is used to identify the NMI characters assigned to a Connection Point.

NMI discovery search 1 is only successful if information in MSATS supports one of the following options. Participants can use any, or all these options in the following order:

Jurisdictions decide the search criteria. Currently, the rules are identical in each Jurisdiction.

  1. DPID

  2. Meter Serial ID:

The state, locality, and postcode are not required.

If a NMI Master Record The NMI master record with an end date set to the year 9999. does not contain DPID or address information, the NMI search is only successful if a Meter Serial ID is provided.

  1. Address (without DPID)

With this option, you must provide the state and locality (or state and postcode).

NMI discovery search 1 returned information

The following information returns for each matching NMI:

  1. NMI

  2. NMI Checksum

  3. Parent Name (if exists)

  4. Child Name (if exists)

  5. The full address (only if the Jurisdiction allows. Currently, all Jurisdictions allow the full address).

NMI discovery search 2 – obtain standing data

This search is used to identify the NMI Standing Data See National Electricitiy Rules recorded for the Connection Point (NMI) and the data available for release in accordance with the NMI Standing Data Access Rules The search available in MSATS enabling a participant to identify nominated CATS Standing Data..

Use the NMI and NMI Checksum found in your NMI Discovery Search 1 The process of finding a NMI and the NMI Checksum by searching MSATS using the Site, the DPID or a meter’s serial number. For more details, see the CATS Procedures. search to find the NMI Standing Data. The data is available to Retailers and NSPs not having Explicit Informed Consent In the NEM, apart from Victoria, as defined in the NERL. In Victoria, as defined in the Energy Retail Code published by the Essential Services Commission of Victoria. from an End-use Customer.

The returned information assists Retailers to prepare quotes for End-Use Customers and to find the Previous Read Date and Quality Flags for an End-Use Customer transfer.

NMI discovery search 3 – obtain role data

This search is used by Retailers to:

  1. Progress error correction Change Requests

  2. Identify the previous FRMP

  3. For seeking agreement to raise a Retrospective alignment with Meter read transfers.

The valid Standing Data items returned to the initiating Role in all Jurisdictions for a successful NMI Discovery Search 3 The search process that can only be used for one of the purposes detailed in the CATS Procedures. request are specified in NMI discovery.

The NMI Standing Data Access Rules for this Transaction See Relevant Rules or Procedures define which:

  1. Role can initiate a request for NMI Standing Data.

  2. Standing Data items are returned when a request is submitted.

  1. When using the reason of TRI (Transferred In Error), they are the Current FRMP or the most recent previous FRMP for the NMI.
    This applies where:

  1. The Current FRMP needs to request a Retailer to transfer back a NMI transferred in error.
  2. The most recent previous FRMP has identified another Retailer has transferred the NMI in error and is seeking to transfer it back.

  1. When using the reason of NNS (New NMI Setup Error (see NMI discovery), the NMI was created in the past 130 Business Days from the NMI Discovery Search 3 date.

Table 49 NMI discovery search 3 standing data items returned for all jurisdictions per change reason code

Change reason code

Description

Standing data

Standing data description

 

All

NMI

A 10-digit National Metering Identifier

NNS

New NMI Setup Error

FRMP

Up to 10-character code representing the identity of the Current FRMP

OTR

Other Transfer Error

FRMP

Up to 10-character code representing the identity of the Current FRMP

SAB

Site Abolishment

FRMP

Start Date

Up to 10-character code representing the identity of the Current FRMP

Start Date of the Current FRMP record

TRI

Transferred In Error

FRMP

Start Date

Up to 10-character code representing the identity of the Current FRMP

Start Date of the Current FRMP record

TRI

Transferred In Error

FRMP

End Date

Up to 10-character code representing the identity of the most recent previous FRMP

End Date of the most recent previous FRMP record

 

Finding a NMI tips

For a successful NMI search, enter as much as information as you know:

  1. For each field.

  2. In the Structured Address fields.

  3. In the correct field. For example, often the Suburb/Locality and House Number are put in the incorrect fields. Many searches fail because the Flat/Unit Number or Floor/Level Number is used in this field.

Address field tips

DPID

The fastest search is to use the NMI’s DPID (providing it is in MSATS). So, if you know the DPID, try it first without any additional information.

Once the record is returned, be sure to check that it is the correct address.

Only a very small percentage of NMIs in MSATS have the DPID field populated, thus making a search using this parameter unreliable.

Street type

If you are confident your address is correct, save some time by not entering the Street type because it is a long list to select from. Excluding it still gives you the same result. If the information returned isn’t what you expected, you can enter it and search again.

Locality or post code

If you’re not sure how to spell a Locality leave it out and search by Postcode.

The search uses adjacent postcodes if it cannot find a match for the specified postcode.

Common NMI discovery errors

Table 50 Common NMI discovery error messages

Code

Description

Explanation

0

Success

If it is an NMID1 it means records are returned but may not exactly match your search criteria

If it is an NMID2, it means the NMI and NMI Checksum you entered were valid and the Standing Data you are entitled to is returned

1403

NMI Discovery. No Access Rule for Jurisdiction Code

NMI Discovery is not allowed for the Role you are acting in.

It could be NMI Discovery:

  • Is allowed in the Jurisdiction but not for your Role

  • Is not allowed in this Jurisdiction at all

1404

NMI Discovery. No Data Found

There are no matches for your search criteria

1410

More data available. Current search exceeds Jurisdictional limit

Your search found some matches and returned the maximum number of records allowed by the Jurisdiction

Not all matching data returned, there are more matches

1411

NMI Discovery. Locality or Postcode required

Either the Locality or Postcode is mandatory in NMID1

1412

NMI Discovery. State required

The State is mandatory for NMID1

1451

NMI Standing Data: Checksum Wrong

The NMI Checksum does not match the NMI

Either the NMI or NMI Checksum is incorrect

1452

NMI Standing Data: No Access Rule

NMI Discovery is not allowed for the Role you are acting in.

It could be NMI Discovery:

  • Is allowed in the Jurisdiction but not for your Role

  • Is not allowed in this Jurisdiction at all

1454

NMI Standing Data: No NMI or Jurisdiction Code

MSATS cannot find the NMI or it is not included in the Batch file