Inaccurate CERT report costs E.ON £3m

Leading energy provider E.ON has been fined £500,000 and ordered to pay customers £2.5 million after misreporting energy-saving measures to Ofgem

Under the now defunct CERT (carbon emissions reduction target) programme, UK energy suppliers were required to provide energy-efficiency measures to consumers to cut the sector’s CO2 output.

In meeting its CERT obligations in 2010, E.ON claimed it had distributed 3.4 million free energy-saving lightbulbs. However, an Ofgem investigation revealed the company’s figures were inaccurate, with the shortfall in bulbs equating to 1% of its total carbon reduction commitment.

According to the regulator, E.ON’s inadequate management systems resulted in it being unable to track how many bulbs had been distributed to customers and bulbs sold in Ireland mistakenly included in its CERT report.

Sarah Harrison, Ofgem’s senior partner in charge of enforcement, said: “This case leaves companies in no doubt that Ofgem takes reporting failures seriously. Accurate company reporting is essential to Ofgem’s effective administration of the government’s environmental schemes.”

Ofgem agreed a settlement with E.ON which will see the firm pay a £500,000 fine and discount 18,500 of its customers’ bills by £135 this winter. The firm has also already installed extra energy-saving measures to make up its shortfall in meeting its 2010 CERT obligations.

The regulator confirmed that the penalties, which total £3 million, would have been harsher, but for the fact that E.ON cooperated with its investigation and quickly took action to meet its energy-efficiency targets.

Tony Cocker, chief executive of E.ON UK, apologised for the error and acknowledged that the firm’s management processes should have been “more robust”.

“Ofgem has received board-level assurance that the necessary changes have been made,” he said.