It's decision time for energy firms, SSE has chosen to act

We’re also expecting to make significantly less profit from supplying energy during this time than we have in the past as costs go up but prices do not. Making a profit is incredibly important for businesses like ours, investing well over £1 billion a year and responsible for supplying energy to more than five million homes and businesses.

But we’ve never been interested in making a quick buck. We’re a good, British company, proud of the long-term role we play in building the UK’s energy infrastructure and employing thousands of people. That requires fair, sustainable profits. And we recognise that our profits will only be sustainable if the energy we supply to our customers remains affordable.

A question I’ve been asked a number of times in the last couple of days is: what happens in 2016?

Well, looking ahead costs are expected to keep rising to pay for the important aims of decarbonising and upgrading the energy system and making homes more energy efficient – which, it is hoped, will actually mean bills are lower than they would otherwise be in the longer term. However, in the immediate term, it’s clear that with policies designed to achieve this currently accounting for around £100 on a typical dual fuel bill and due to double by 2020, we need to use the time between now and 2016 to consider how best to meet this cost.

The problem is that these costs are currently spread across all energy bill payers, regardless of their ability to pay. We support the aims of the schemes themselves, but this is socially regressive and frankly unfair. Taking green and social levies off bills completely and putting them into taxation where they belong would not only be fairer, because the amount people pay would be proportionate to their income, but it would also keep energy prices lower for longer. So I’ve written to party leaders asking for them to work with us on this critical issue.

We’re responding to the questions that have been asked of us with a positive agenda for customers, including our 2016 price freeze. We’re recognising that we need to make sure our own house is in order by streamlining and simplifying our business. And we’re making clear we wish to work with all parties to find more ways of taking costs out of energy bills.

In all of this, I hope that people will start to see a British company like SSE not as part of the problem but as part of the solution.

Alistair Phillips-Davies is Chief Executive of SSE

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