Eversheds Sutherland has advised Npower on its £2.4m fine from energy regulator Ofgem, after the company failed to meet a government deadline to install advanced electricity meters.

Energy supplier Npower was fined for installing only 15,200 advanced meters out of the required 22,400 it needed to supply by the April 2014 deadline.

As a result of the missed deadline, which was set in 2009, Ofgem said Npower's customers "missed out on the opportunity to receive better information about their energy consumption and control costs".

The Eversheds Sutherland team was led by commercial litigation partner Mark Howarth, alongside legal director Louise Howarth, while Ofgem used its in-house lawyers.

Rob Salter-Church, Ofgem interim executive director for consumers and markets, said: "Npower is paying the price for failing to meet its obligations and letting down its business customers. The government set a clear deadline for suppliers to ensure no business customers unnecessarily missed out on the benefits of advanced meters, including the opportunity to save money on their bills. The fine reflects that there were systemic failings by npower, which led to the serious failure of not meeting the deadline."

The new smart meters allow for one-way remote communication between customers' premises and suppliers' IT systems.

The fine comes after Npower and SSE merged their domestic retail operations last year, a deal that created a new independent British retail energy company, listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Npower parent company Innogy, which owns a 34.4% stake in the new company, was advised by Slaughter and May and Hengeler Mueller on the deal.