(Bloomberg) —
Power-cable makers, including Nexans SA and Prysmian S.p.A., face a UK class action lawsuit linked to a historic cartel case that could potentially seek hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation for electricity customers.
Clare Spottiswoode, the former head of Britain’s gas regulator, has applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal for approval to bring a collective action on behalf of UK consumers, according to a statement Wednesday.
The suit follows on from a European Commission 2014 decision that found a number of cable companies operated a cartel on an “almost worldwide scale” from 1999 until regulators raided the firms in 2009. Spottiswoode and law firm Scott+Scott allege that the cartel raised the price of cables used by energy firms, which in turn passed on the costs to households.
“Domestic electricity customers in Great Britain paid inflated energy bills for many years through no fault of their own,” Spottiswoode said in a statement.
The claim will now need to be approved by the CAT. The amount of compensation and customers involved is still to be determined. James Hain-Cole, a lawyer at Scott+Scott, estimated that the compensation could be in the hundreds of millions of pounds and the number of electricity customers involved could be as much as 30 million.
Nexans and Prysmian didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Updates with possible size and scope of claim starting in first paragraph)
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