Following its recent consultation regarding proposed penalties associated with the Incentive on Connection Engagement (ICE), the energy regulator, Ofgem, has today confirmed it no longer intends to impose a penalty on Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) for either of its licenced distribution networks.

Commenting, SSEN's Director of Connections and Commercial, Andy Huthwaite, said:

"We welcome today's decision by Ofgem to reconsider its proposed penalty following the robust set of evidence we provided in our consultation response."

"We take all feedback extremely seriously, particularly where customers express concern, and we were therefore disappointed to hear a small number of stakeholders felt our service had not met their expectations. As soon as we learned of this feedback we immediately implemented measures to review and address these concerns in an efficient and effective manner."

"Over recent years we have made significant changes and improvements in our connections process, informed by the needs and expectations of our customers. We remain fully committed to continued engagement with our connections customers to further improve our connections service based on their needs and expectations, and to do the right thing and place our customer at the heart of everything we do."

The Incentive on Connection Engagement (ICE) is a penalty only incentive introduced as part of the RIIO- ED1 price control to help drive improvements in customer service for major customers and ensure DNOs engage with and respond to stakeholder needs.