By Matteo Castia 



  The U.K.'s Office of Gas and Electricity Markets--or Ofgem--said Thursday that it had fined Scottish energy group SSE PLC 2.1 million pounds ($2.8 million) for failing to publish inside information about the wholesale energy market. 


  SSE should have disclosed in a timely manner information about the future availability of its generation capacity, the regulator said. 


  "SSE breached legal requirements on the publication of inside information because it made the wrong decision about whether it was in possession of inside information," Ofgem said. 


  On March 22, 2016, SSE signed a non-binding head of terms agreement with gas and utility group National Grid PLC, creating a combined capacity equivalent to 3% of U.K. peak electricity demand. "These units had a significant impact on U.K. demand and supply, affecting wholesale prices," Ofgem said. 


  SSE didn't publish this information until March 30, 2016, once it had finalized the contract, Ofgem said. 


  "SSE's delay in making a public announcement resulted in four days trading without the market knowing that more generation was likely to be available than previously thought. It is likely this led to some market participants paying more for wholesale electricity than they should have," the regulator said. 


  Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com