SSE to freeze prices until 2016

SSE will freeze its electricity and gas prices for its customers until at least 2016 as part of a series of reforms aimed at cutting its customers’ energy bills.

The major energy supplier has stated it will offer “the longest unconditional price guarantee” until at least January 2016.

Alongside this promise, SSE has also said it will make £100 million of “operational savings” per year, with up to 500 jobs set to go across the group.

As part of this drive to lower costs, and energy bills for consumers, the supplier also noted that it expects to make less profit from its energy supply business, on top of a predicted 25 per cent fall in profit this year compared to 2012/13 due to a milder winter.

SSE’s reforms will go further, as the group has planned to legally separate the retail and wholesale side of the businesses by March 2015.

The company said it “acknowledges that more needs to be done to make the energy sector easier to understand” and that it hopes splitting the two parts of the business will “improve transparency”.

The supplier has also once again called on the government, as well as the leader of the opposition, to remove green and social levies from energy bills and to put them into general taxation to make energy bills cheaper and “protect those less able to pay”.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE, said the reforms outlined today recognise that “delivering the lowest possible energy prices for our customers has to be central to everything we do”.

He added: “We’re responding to the questions that have been asked of us with a positive agenda for customers, including the longest ever unconditional energy price freeze.

“To help us achieve that, we’re making sure our own house is in order by streamlining and simplifying our business.

“We’re doing our bit but we don’t want to stop at 2016.

“So today we’re making clear once again that we wish to work with people to find more ways of taking costs out of energy bills and, more specifically, to make sure the cost of energy taxes is paid for fairly in a way that is proportionate to people’s income and protects the vulnerable.”

Consumer watchdog Which? praised SSE for making a “bold move” and executive director Richard Lloyd said that “SSE has also shown the industry itself can take action to improve transparency”.

However, he still called for a full competition enquiry to “ensure the whole energy market is opened up to more competitive pressure, to keep costs in check and give all consumers confidence that are paying a fair price”.