The Labour party has today released figures relating to the profits made by energy companies since 2010.
A spokesperson for SSE said:
"The UK needs more companies like SSE which, year on year, drive growth by investing more into Great Britain and Ireland than they make in profit, employ almost 20,000 people mainly in regional areas and pay hundreds of millions in tax to the UK Government. We are UK-listed and publish straightforward accounts for anyone to see."
Angela Knight CBE, Chief Executive of EnergyUK, said:
"This is a disappointing and inaccurate bashing of an industry which brings heat and light to 27 million homes and business, pays billions each year to the Exchequer and creates employment for over 600,000 people.
"If a company is to stay in business it has to make a profit. And the more a company has to invest then it has to make more profit to do so.
"What is actually needed is a clear, sensible and coherent debate on what people want, how much wind power and how much gas, nuclear and coal is needed, what capacity is required and, critically, how much people are prepared to pay for it all. Petty point scoring has no place in the adult discussion and decision making required."