Scottish and Southern Energy cut prices

SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy plc) will introduce a package of changes in prices for household gas supply from 29 March 2010 under which it will cut unit prices, adjust the ‘fixed’ charge element in bills and remove the extra charges levied on its ‘single fuel’ and pre-payment tariffs compared with standard credit tariffs.

The effect of these changes on a typical customer using the industry standard amount of gas (20,500kWh per annum) will be to reduce SSE’s gas bills by: 4% or £30 (standard credit/direct debit); 7% or £56 (single fuel); and 9% or £70 (pre-payment). As a result, these SSE customers will pay around 5% less for their gas than customers of British Gas.

In addition, SSE’s gas pre-payment tariff will be the lowest in Great Britain. The removal of the extra charges levied on SSE’s gas pre-payment tariff follows the earlier removal of the extra charges levied on its electricity pre-payment tariff.

SSE supplies gas and electricity as Southern Electric, SWALEC, Scottish Hydro and Atlantic and is the UK’s second largest energy supplier.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, Energy Supply Director of SSE, said: "Energy supply is still a challenging business, with significant upward price pressures which run counter to reductions in wholesale costs, but we believe this is a responsible package of measures which confirms that SSE is one of the country’s most competitive energy suppliers. We will do everything we can to make sure customers get value for money from energy supply, with energy efficiency and customer service continuing to be top priorities."