ENERGY giant SSE has made a legally binding commitment to make it easier for competitors to connect their customers to its distribution network.

The move follows a Competition Act investigation into whether SSE had abused its dominant position and put rival suppliers at a disadvantage by impeding their ability to connect new developments to SSE’s electricity distribution network in the south of England.

Ofgem, which carried out the investigation, has accepted detailed commitments from SSE after it announced in June that it had found inconsistencies in the Perth-based group’s provision of essential services needed to allow other suppliers to compete effectively, including inconsistency in quotes.

It said that it would now close its investigation but added that it did so having made no decision on whether or not SSE did in fact infringe competition law.

In a statement, the FTSE-100 company welcomed Ofgem’s announcement to accept its commitments and close its investigation “into aspects of the provision of non-contestable network connection services without any finding as to the legality or otherwise of SSE’s connection activities”.

Hundreds of thousands of network connections are made every year as sites such as new housing estates and commercial development connect to electricity distribution networks.

The market for providing these connections is estimated to be worth more than £500 million per year, as independent companies compete against regional distribution network operators, such as SSE, to connect new customers.

Under Competition and Markets Authority rules, customers not yet connected to the grid have no obligation to take services from the local distribution company but can choose any independent, connection provider. In theory, effective competition should help deliver cheaper connections, better customer service, and more innovative products.

SSE said its new commitments would ensure these services are provided to all parties on a consistent basis.

Although the investigation focused only on SSE’s network in the south of England, the group’s commitment will also be put in place in its Scottish distribution network.

“SSE’s commitments are designed to implement a number of operational changes to its connections business in order to address Ofgem’s competition concerns and help promote increased competition for electricity connection services for the benefit of customers,” said the company.

SSE has said it will commit to splitting operations within its connections business to separate the team that provides essential services to the connections market from the team that competes in the connections market.

It also said it would make improvements to its IT system to prevent inconsistent quotes being issued; there will also be mandatory and regular competition law compliance training for staff; and independent, third-party auditing of SSE’s compliance with the commitments.

Saying the commitments required “substantial changes” to its operations, SSE added that they demonstrated its continued support for Ofgem in promoting a more competitive electricity connections market.