Supply
We supply electricity, gas and other services to over 9.6 million domestic and business customers in the UK and Ireland.
Our role is to produce the electricity and gas customers need, and arrange for it to be distributed through the relevant networks, provide services such as metering and billing and promote efficient use of energy.
We supply electricity and gas as:
Our responsible pricing policy ensures that we provide consistently competitive prices over the medium term, protecting our customers from the full impact of volatile wholesale prices.
In addition to energy customer accounts, we provide home services such as:
- gas boiler, central heating and wiring maintenance and installation products and services; and
- telephone line rental, calls and broadband services.
Our key goals in energy supply are to:
- offer consistently competitive prices over the medium term;
- provide market-leading products and related services to help transform energy consumption; and
- deliver a high quality of service to customers.
Using energy more efficiently is the fastest and most sustainable way of reducing customers' energy costs, sustaining supplies for the long term and securing reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide. We have obligations under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP):
- CERT is a scheme to deliver energy efficiency measures to households throughout Great Britain. In 2011/12, we funded the installation of cavity wall insulation in 125,000 homes and loft insulation in 190,000 homes (excluding DIY insulation). An increase of 60% on the previous year.
- CESP is a new obligation on both energy suppliers and electricity generators to save emissions of carbon dioxide in domestic customers' homes in areas of the country prescribed by the UK government. We have already started work on CESP projects in England, Scotland and Wales.
Our position as the customer service benchmark for the rest of the energy supply industry is illustrated by:
- the UK Customer Satisfaction Index, published in 2011. We achieved the top ranking in the utility sector for the fourth consecutive year.
- the Customer Satisfaction Report from uSwitch.com, published in 2011. We were ranked the best energy supplier for the eighth successive time; and
- the Consumer Focus customer complaints rankings, published in March 2012, in which SSE became the only company to achieve a five star rating.
We believe that any type of poverty, including fuel poverty, results fundamentally from an individual or household having insufficient income. Nevertheless, we fulfil three key responsibilities in order to help customers who struggle to pay for their basic energy needs:
- giving financial assistance with energy bills, helping over 400,000 customers with a total of £46m in 2011/12;
- providing tailor-made payment arrangements, helping over 300,000 customers who may be experiencing hardship and having difficulty in paying their energy bills; and
- contacting more than 60,000 potentially vulnerable customers, helping them with practical advice and support.