Utility move-in, move-out and outages between agents

Moving home means starting utility service at one address and stopping it at another, on the right dates, with a meter read at each end. Outages mean the same question asked by thousands of customers at once: is it just me, and when will it be back? Both are routine, structured and time-bound. Behind the call centre, utilities already exchange much of this as electronic transactions. The customer side is still phone lines, web forms and outage maps.

How it works today

Move-in and move-out. The customer calls or fills in a form with the service address, start or stop date, identity details and billing address. New customers may face a credit check or a deposit. The utility schedules a meter read or a field visit if service is off.

Competitive markets already run on EDI. In Texas, ERCOT’s retail market uses Texas SET, a set of ANSI EDI transaction guidelines. A move-in is an 814_16 transaction, a move-out an 814_24, and a switch between retail providers an 814_01. Service orders use the 650 series, and each premise has an Electric Service Identifier (ESI ID). In Ontario, the Ontario Energy Board’s Electronic Business Transaction (EBT) standards let electricity retailers and distributors share customer and billing information in a common format so accounts settle quickly and accurately.

Usage data. Green Button lets customers download their electricity, gas or water usage in a standard format, and, through Connect My Data, authorize third parties to retrieve it directly. It is based on NAESB’s ESPI standard, used with the IETF’s OAuth framework for the customer’s authorization.

Outages. Customers check outage maps, sign up for text alerts, or call a recorded line. Some notice duties are regulatory. In California, the CPUC strengthened customer notification requirements for planned wildfire-prevention shutoffs through Resolution ESRB-8 in 2018, and expanded them in its Public Safety Power Shutoff decisions of 2019, 2020 and 2021, including for customers with access and functional needs.

Disconnection rules. In Ontario, the OEB’s winter disconnection ban meant residential electricity and natural gas customers could not be disconnected for non-payment from 15 November 2025 to 30 April 2026, and customers previously disconnected for non-payment were to be reconnected by 1 December 2025. A move-out request is not a non-payment disconnection, but an agent handling account changes in winter needs to know the difference.

The agent-to-agent version

Illustrative. A renter in Houston is moving on 15 October. Their agent handles both addresses.

1. The agent sends the retail provider’s agent a move-out for the old address on 15 October and a move-in for the new one the same day.
2. The provider’s agent asks for identity verification and, for the new premise, confirms the ESI ID matching the address.
3. With verification done, the provider submits the move-out and move-in to the market as 814_24 and 814_16 transactions and returns confirmation numbers.
4. The task stays open until both orders complete, and the agent receives status updates by push notification.

Step 1:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": "req-move-1",
  "method": "SendMessage",
  "params": {
    "message": {
      "messageId": "msg-move-01",
      "role": "ROLE_USER",
      "parts": [
        { "text": "Customer is moving. Stop service at the current address and start service at the new one on the same day." },
        {
          "data": {
            "accountRef": "acct-token-3b8e",
            "moveOut": { "serviceAddress": "123 Example St, Apt 4, Houston, TX", "date": "2026-10-15" },
            "moveIn": { "serviceAddress": "456 Sample Ave, Unit 12, Houston, TX", "date": "2026-10-15" },
            "billingAddress": "same_as_move_in"
          },
          "mediaType": "application/json"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

An outage check is simpler: a read-only task that returns whether the service address is inside a known outage, the cause if known, and the estimated restoration time. The agent can subscribe to updates rather than asking every few minutes.

What has to be true

Identity. Starting service creates a debt in someone’s name, so the utility needs to know the new customer is real and consents. Stopping service is riskier than it looks: a malicious move-out can cut power to someone else’s home.

Authority. The agent’s authority should name the addresses and dates. A credential that allows “stop service at 123 Example St on 15 October” should not allow stopping service anywhere else or changing the billing account.

Premise identity. Addresses are ambiguous; ESI IDs and meter numbers are not. The utility’s agent should confirm the premise identifier back to the customer’s agent before submitting anything.

Record. Dates requested, dates confirmed, meter reads and deposit terms. Billing disputes after a move usually turn on whose service covered which day.

Safety. Downed lines, gas smells and medical equipment at risk are emergencies. They belong on emergency lines and with people, never in an agent task queue.

Where Emissar fits

• Resolve (in development): the customer’s agent often starts from the phone number on a bill. Resolve maps that number to the utility’s verified agent endpoint, if it has one.
• Front Door (open to design partners): an agent endpoint in front of the retailer’s or utility’s customer systems, which already feed the market’s EDI.
• Verify (in development): checks the calling agent before account changes.
• Mandate (spec in progress): authority scoped to specific addresses and dates.
• Ledger (spec in progress): signed records of the requested and confirmed dates.
• Handoff (in development): disconnection disputes and customers with medical needs go to a person.

Open questions

• In retail-choice markets, should the wires utility also expose an agent endpoint for outages, since the retailer does not run the grid?
• Outage information is useful to renters and neighbours who are not account holders. What can a utility’s agent share without authenticating the caller?
• Could Green Button Connect My Data’s OAuth pattern serve as the model for agent authority over account actions as well as usage data?
• How should an agent confirm a premise identifier with the customer before a move-in, when the customer has never seen it?