CROSS-PARTY CONSENSUS IS NEEDED FOR CONSUMERS
On 25 September I received a letter from Mr Miliband regarding proposals for the GB energy market. I am responding to all of you due to the importance of these issues for the British company I lead, its 20,000 people who work hard to provide the energy people need, and our millions of customers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
When it comes to energy, the parties you lead appear to want the same things: secure, decarbonised supplies of energy with prices that are as low as possible. We agree with these objectives and, like you, want to make sure energy costs are affordable.
It is now clear, however, that there does not appear to be much political consensus on how we can achieve these things. The problem is that in energy we make 20-40 year investments in power stations and the energy networks - SSE alone invests around £1.5 billion a year. If parties are not pulling in the same direction, investments become riskier, borrowing becomes more expensive and, ultimately, consumers pay more.
While I understand that political parties will have policy differences, without cross-party political consensus on the key issues the uncertainty will remain until 2015 and potentially beyond. Energy policy is too important to become paralysed by politics.
For me a key part of that consensus needs to be a focus on lowering bills today. While rising global wholesale costs are outside of any politician's or company's control, using energy bills to pay for government policies to decarbonise energy and insulate homes is within your control.
My solution to bringing bills down is therefore to put government policy costs into taxation. This will immediately take over £3 billion off UK energy bills and around £8 billion a year by 2020 - wiping £110 off the average person's current bill and shifting the cost away from those who can't afford to pay and on to those who can.
At SSE we have shown leadership time and time again. Whether becoming the largest generator of renewable energy, insulating over 300,000 homes last year to help people spend less on electricity and gas, or being the biggest company in the UK paying the Living Wage, we work hard for Britain. But we cannot have prolonged uncertainty. Our customers deserve better so we urge you to find consensus.
Yours Sincerely,
Alistair Phillips-Davies