EDF Energy fined £0.35m by UK regulator

Regulator Ofgem has fined French energy giant EDF's UK arm £350,000 for missing last year's smart meters installation target.

Under Downing Street's smart meter roll-out programme, UK suppliers are required by law to take "all reasonable steps" to roll-out smart meters to homes and small businesses by the end of 2020.

To work towards this, suppliers set individual annual targets for smart meters to be installed for their customers, against which Ofgem monitors compliance.

EDF Energy, a subsidiary of Electricite de France, fell short of its annual installations target last year and, despite meeting its target for 2017 in January, less than one month after the deadline, has agreed to pay a total of £350,000 into Ofgem's consumer redress fund, which supports consumers in vulnerable situations and the development of innovative products or services not currently available to energy consumers.

As a result of the payment, Ofgem decided not to take formal enforcement action against the supplier.

Back in May, Ofgem published its annual summary on suppliers' overall progress against their targets and reminded suppliers that their customer communications to offer installations must be "transparent and accurate".

As of 1100 BST, Electricite de France shares had picked up 0.65% to €11.62 each.