SSE freezes energy prices until 2016
26/03/2014
Energy supplier SSE has announced plans to freeze gas and electricity prices until 2016.
The move which holds similarities to the Labour energy policy, which promises to freeze energy prices for 20 months if they are elected, is likely to lower profits according to the company.
However, the company has said it will offset this loss in profits as much as possible by “streamlining” the business. This would include cutting 500 jobs and scrapping plans to build three offshore wind farms.
SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies claimed that "delivering the lowest possible energy prices" to customers was "central to everything we do".
He also claimed that SSE are “looking to do whatever we can to bring down prices for consumers” and further stated “I hope that people will start to recognise SSE is not part of the problem, but part of the solution.
Phillips-Davies continued by putting pressure on the government to consider changing the way they collect tax on energy. He suggested that instead of taking energy tax from bills, they should be collected through general taxation.
He said that such a move would make sure tax "is paid for fairly in a way that is proportionate to people's income and protects the vulnerable."
Regulators have been analysing the competitive landscape of the energy industry recently and are expected to announce whether or not there will be a full scale investigation into the energy industry.
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