EDF fined for poor customer service on network connections.

EDF Energy, one of the largest energy groups in the UK, has been fined £2 million by Ofgem for poor customer service.

The regulator said the French-owned company had “failed to meet statutory timescales for providing offers to customers requesting a connection to its electricity networks.” As a regulated energy provider, EDF is expected to provide offers to business customers, as well as homeowners, as soon as reasonably practical. It currently serves around 7.9 million customers in the UK.

In an investigation, ongoing since 2006, Ofgem – the Office for Gas and Electricity Markets – found that EDF had failed to meet the promise in over 100 cases, and did not have an adequate reporting system in place to monitor whether it was meeting the three-month deadline which was imposed.

Sarah Harrison, Ofgem’s Managing Director, Corporate Affairs, said: “Customers should not have to accept poor service in any part of the energy market. All energy companies should be in no doubt that if they are failing to offer good customer service, Ofgem will take tough regulatory action.”

Ms Harrison confirmed that EDF had already paid around £450,000 in compensation to those customers affected, and this had been taken into consideration when determining the level of the fine.

At the end of 2008, Ofgem fined Npower £1.8m after it failed to take sufficient action to prevent misselling of energy contracts to customers.