British Suppliers Colluding in Retail Energy Fined $1.1 Million by Watchdog

(Bloomberg) -- Energy regulator Ofgem fined two suppliers and a software firm for breaching antitrust laws in Britain’s increasingly competitive market.

E (Gas and Electricity) Ltd. and Economy Energy, together with Dyball Associates were fined a total of 870,000 pounds ($1.1 million), Ofgem said in a statement. The watchdog found that the suppliers had agreed to stop targeting each others’ customers and the computer firm developed software to enable that.

The case dates back to 2016 when the firms shared commercially sensitive customer meter data with each other through software developed by Dyball. The suppliers argued they were a “family enterprise” so were permitted to share the information, Ofgem said. That line of defense was rejected by the regulator.

E (Gas and Electricity) was fined 650,000 pounds while Economy Energy must pay 200,000 pounds, the regulator said. Dyball faces a 20,000 pound penalty.

Economy Energy is in administration and its 120,000 accounts have been taken over by OVO Energy Ltd. E (Gas and Electricity) is a Birmingham-based supplier.

“Anti-competitive agreements are a serious breach of competition law and could cause widespread detriment and harm to consumers, especially those in vulnerable situations,” said Anthony Pygram, director of conduct and enforcement at Ofgem.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson, Andrew Reierson

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