British Gas fined £1m by Ofgem for misreporting

The Renewables Obligation scheme requires energy firms to detail their use of renewables

Energy regulator Ofgem has fined British Gas £1m for misreporting how much electricity it supplied.

This affected its target under the government's programme for supplying electricity from renewable sources.

The error was made over seven years by British Gas Business, which supplies the company's business customers.

Ofgem said British Gas Business had underestimated the total amount of electricity it sold by 0.6% a year from 2001-02 to 2008-09.

British Gas said it had brought the error to Ofgem's attention.

'Insufficient procedures'

The misreporting relates to the government's Renewables Obligation programme, which requires energy suppliers to provide evidence of the amount of electricity supplied from renewable sources.

Ofgem administers the scheme on behalf of the government, and the data supplied is used to calculate financial incentives for the energy industry. These are designed to promote the use of renewable energy.

The regulator said British Gas's error was caused by "incorrect interpretation of the reporting requirements, and insufficient procedures by the company".

Kanat Emiroglu, managing director of British Gas Business, said: "We take any failure to meet Ofgem reporting obligations very seriously, and we are sorry this error has occurred.

"As soon as we discovered our misinterpretation of the reporting rules, we acted to bring this to Ofgem's attention, and have worked closely with the regulator to address the problem and to ensure we fully comply with the reporting requirements in the future."

British Gas is owned by parent company Centrica.