Ofgem fines energy supplier E for misleading behaviour, blocks Shetland energy link
E, the gas and electricity supplier, has been being forced to pay £260,000 into the regulator's charity fund for failing to ensure its sales agents were transparent or passed sufficient background checks.
According to the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) on Thursday, sales representatives for E contracted by a third party agency Energy Watch UK were "misleading" in their approach, failing to inform potential customers they were working on behalf of E and rather as an independent price comparison service.
Adding that no customer suffered directly, financially or otherwise, from the breaches, Ofgem ordered E to pay £260,000 to a new voluntary redress fund to amend the failures.
Ofgem's senior partner in improving regulation, Martin Crouch, said: "E did not put security and transparency first when it came to face-to-face sales, and risked the trust and well-being of potential customers.
"This payment sends an important reminder to all suppliers that there's no room for misleading behaviour when it comes to selling energy.
"E has since worked well with Ofgem, and has changed its processes to make sure its agents have sufficient background checks and carry out sales in a transparent way."
In a separate announcement released on the same day, Ofgem said it had rejected a proposal submitted by National Grid and Aggreko to develop a subsea electricity distribution link from Shetland to mainland Great Britain.
SSE, the system operator for Shetland, had recommended the proposal in May, but has since been able to guarantee energy supply on the island until at least 2025 thanks to a July EU decision that tougher emissions targets which were due to apply to Lerwick Power Station from 2020 will now only apply from 2030, plus a recent UK government indication that wind farms on remote islands such as Shetland will be eligible to compete for a contract for difference in the next auction for less established technologies, planned for 2019.