STATEMENT ON GB HOUSEHOLD ENERGY TARIFFS
Following the announcement by the UK government that it is to consult on proposals to reduce the future costs associated with the Energy Company Obligation and to facilitate other measures to reduce the cost of electricity and gas for customers, SSE can confirm that it will pass any resulting savings on to customers before the end of the current financial year.
On the basis of today's announcement and the planned consultation, SSE plans to reduce its household energy prices before the end of its financial year. The overall impact of the proposed changes, including the rebate which is expected to apply in Autumn 2014, should lead to a typical dual fuel customer benefiting by around 4%. This should equate to a saving of around £50 for a typical dual fuel customer*.
These changes should remove a significant amount of upward pressures from energy bills. SSE plans to extend its current Autumn 2014 price cap at the new lower levels to Spring 2015, subject to there being no marked and sustained increase in wholesale energy costs, network costs or new policy-related costs.
William Morris, Managing Director, Retail, said:
"We promised our customers that they would benefit from any cost savings and although there is some detail still to be worked out, we are able to commit to lowering our prices. If the proposals set out today are implemented, it will mean energy costs for a typical dual fuel customer can be cut by around 4%.
"We continue to believe that policy costs should be paid through general taxation, not energy bills. The Warm Homes Discount changes are therefore a step in the right direction"
Notes
* Based on a standard dual fuel customer (averaged across Great Britain) using the typical annual household energy consumption levels to be adopted by Ofgem in January 2014 of 13,500kWh of gas and 3,200kWh of electricity; includes VAT. Around 4.4 million household electricity customers and around 2.9 million household gas customers in Great Britain were affected by SSE's tariff changes (implemented on 15 November 2013).
