E.On has been ordered by energy watchdog Ofgem to pay £3 million due to inaccurate reporting relating to its distribution of free energy saving lamps.
Under the government's Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) scheme, energy suppliers were obliged to distribute free energy saving lamps to British households; however Ofgem's investigation found that E.On's reported distribution figure of around 3.4 million was inaccurate because it included the energy company selling some lamps in the Republic of Ireland instead of distributing them for free in Britain.
In a statement Ofgem said that E.On could not provide appropriate evidence that they had actually been distributed.
As a result of Ofgem's findings, E.On will make payments of £2.5 million that will benefit some of its most vulnerable customers. This payment will result in around 18,500 extra customers receiving £135 towards their 2013/14 winter bills. The remaining £500,000 will be paid via a fine to reflect the serious nature of inaccurate reporting.
The energy company says it has now taken action to ensure it has met its CERT obligations by installing extra energy-saving measures to make up for the carbon savings that were lost as a result of the inaccurate figures. The total amount reported inaccurately was equivalent to one per cent of E.On's total CERT obligations.
E.On UK's chief executive, Tony Cocker said: "We're sorry that these mistakes were made in 2010 and Ofgem has received a board- level assurance that the necessary changes have been made. No consumers were misled because of this mistake but this does not take away from the fact it was an error that should not have been made."
Ofgem's senior partner in charge of enforcement, Sarah Harrison said: "This case leaves companies in no doubt that Ofgem, takes reporting failures seriously."
