The Irish domestic electricity market was opened to competition on February 19th 2005. A key requirement set out by the Irish regulation body, CER, was for assurance that market participants were able to operate within the new arrangements, given the keen interest of political and consumer groups in the liberalisation of the market and their desire for competition to work successfully. At CER's direction, the electricity incumbent, ESB, appointed Gemserv as the Retail Market Readiness Testing Co-ordinator. Gemserv provided an expert team of 18 staff to provide Retail Markets Readiness Testing Execution Services. The team comprised a mix of Gemserv consultants and external consultants identified, accredited and sourced by Gemserv.

A key aspect of our role was to review and accredit the relevant business processes of all existing electricity suppliers against a framework agreed with market participants in advance. Business scenarios and design implementation within each company were tested, as well as system connectivity.

Gemserv provided reports and held daily review meetings at every stage, maintaining open and transparent communications with both the market participant concerned and CER. Regular meetings were held, providing feedback to market participants throughout the process; with many taking remedial action following those meetings. Gemserv services have been retained on an ongoing basis to address ongoing issues concerned with the market design.