£15m hit for power firm

BRITAIN’S largest electricity distributor has agreed to pay £14.9m into a redress fund after it failed to offer proper support during power cuts to some of its 1.7m vulnerable customers.

Energy watchdog Ofgem said National Grid’s Western Power Distribution did not provide adequate information, advice and aid.

Network firms have a duty to provide extra support to customers in vulnerable circumstances. a probe by Ofgem in 2020 found a failure to quickly notify and update some people affected by cuts about when power would be restored and what aid was available.

Cathryn Scott, at Ofgem, said: ‘In our view it took too long to put this right. This is totally unacceptable.’