UK energy suppliers acting in line with competition laws: Watchdog
Britain’s largest energy suppliers have escaped a worst-case outcome of a competition probe that could have led to their break-up after the country’s anti-trust watchdog said on Tuesday the companies were acting in line with the law.
The watchdog found, however, that domestic energy users were overcharged by around 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) between 2009 and 2013 when suppliers’ tariffs were on average 5 percent above the standard rate.
Britons have been angered by ever-rising energy bills and poor customer service that has left many consumers alleging utilities were cheating them. The utilities have denied this.
“The presence of vertically integrated firms does not have a detrimental impact on competition,” the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in its provisional findings report.
A year ago, the CMA launched an investigation into whether Britain’s six largest suppliers, which hold around 90 percent of the market, were abusing their dominant market position.
The companies are SSE, Scottish Power, Centrica, RWE npower, E.ON and EDF Energy.
“We won’t hesitate to take further action where the market is not delivering a fair deal for consumers,” said Britain’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Amber Rudd, in a statement.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would implement changes to the energy market in line with the findings of the CMA investigation.
