SGN says it will fully co-operate with Ofgem after the regulator announced it was investigating the gas network operator’s connections business.
The regulator’s governing body, the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA), will take charge of the inquiry which Ofgem said “concerns a suspected abuse of a dominant position”.
Ofgem added that the investigation is at the “initial evidence gathering phase”.
“The opening of this investigation does not imply we have made any findings about whether there has been an infringement of competition law,” the regulator stressed.
Commenting on the matter, an SGN spokesperson said: “SGN has received notification from the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, the governing body of Ofgem, that it has opened an investigation under s.25 of the Competition Act 1998 into the conduct of SGN and any companies that form or previously formed part of the same corporate group which focuses on SGN’s connections business.
“We are co-operating fully with the investigation.”
The gas distribution network operator, which covers Scotland and parts of southern England, declined to comment further when asked to by Utility Week.
It comes as SGN recently announced the UK’s first hydrogen training facility for gas engineers.
The gas distribution company and Fife College are building the facility in Levenmouth, Fife, where SGN is hosting the world’s first green hydrogen home heating trial.
The college will be able to train up to 200 engineers who will be able to work on the H100 Fife trial.