Scottish & Southern cuts prices
SCOTTISH and Southern Energy (SSE) became the second British energy supplier to cut gas prices, lowering household bills by between 4-9 per cent from 29 March, the utility said yesterday.
Its planned pricing adjustments equates to a four per cent or £30 reduction in annual gas bills for standard credit or direct debit customers.
Single fuel customers can expect a seven per cent or £56 cut, while pre-payment would see a nine per cent or £70 reduction.
“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,” energy supply director Alistair Phillips-Davies said.
Details of SSE’s pricing changes includes cutting the cost of a standard unit of gas and removing extra charges for single fuel and pre-payment tariffs
This offsets a rise in fixed charged costs, which covers several elements including the cost of distributing gas to homes, metering, and customer services.
Energy regulator Ofgem and the government have urged Britain’s energy supplier to cut residential customer bills to reflect the fall in wholesale prices. SSE is the second utility of the big six to announce gas price cuts, after British Gas cut prices by seven per cent early last month.
FAST FACTS | GAS PRICES
• Wholesale gas prices have declined from over 100p per therm in mid-2008 to below 40p over the past 18 months.
• Ofgem says companies are making £105 per customer annually, up from £35 last year.