National Grid fined £41.8m by Ofgem
February 27, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
Power distributor the National Grid has been fined £41.8 million by energy watchdog Ofgem for breaching competition law and harming customers. 
The fine is the largest ever imposed by the regulator for behaviour which allegedly prevented suppliers from contracting with other companies for cheaper metering deals.
Sir John Moog, Ofgem chairman, said: “National Grid has abused its dominance in the domestic gas metering market, restricting competition and harming consumers.
According to the watchdog, the National Grid made a number of long-term contracts with five of the six main energy suppliers to supply and maintain gas meters.
The contracts included financial penalties imposed on suppliers if they replaced more than the small number of meters allowed under the contract by National Grid.
Ofgem said that this has severely restricted the rate at which suppliers can replace even National Grid’s older meters with cheaper or more advanced meters from rival operators.
Meanwhile, the National Grid has launched an appeal against the verdict, insisting that it has not harmed any of its competitors.
