UK supplier United Gas & Power to pay $2.5 million for overcharging

LONDON (Reuters) - British energy regulator Ofgem said on Thursday it would impose a penalty of over 2.1 million pounds ($2.5 million) on United Gas & Power Ltd (UGP) after it found the energy supplier guilty of overcharging customers.

Under the penalty the company will pay 2,111,798 pounds to Ofgem's voluntary redress fund, with the company also issued with a nominal fine of 1 pound.

“In addition to this overcharging, it is concerning that UGP failed to return credit owing to former customers and retained such large sums in their own account; only refunding customers following Ofgem's intervention," Ofgem said in a statement.

Ofgem said the average customer was overcharged by 2,000 pounds with one customer overcharged more than 22,000 pounds.

The company, which provides energy to non-domestic customers, lists businesses such as a brewery in Yorkshire and charity Age Concern as previous customers on its website.

Money from the redress fund will be distributed to appropriate organisations for the benefit of energy consumers, Ofgem said.

($1 = 0.8304 pounds)

(Reporting by Susanna Twidale in London and Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran and Mark Potter)