No change to SSE Airtricity Regulated Natural Gas prices in Northern Ireland

SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland’s leading natural gas provider, has announced that it is holding its regulated natural gas prices for its domestic and small business customers at current levels until October 20141.

This good news for 118,000 natural gas customers of SSE Airtricity follows a detailed independent examination of the company’s current natural gas supply and operating costs by the Utility Regulator. This examination occurs at this time every year as part of the annual Price Control review by the Utility Regulator of the company’s regulated gas tariffs.

The company has also consulted during this process with the Consumer Council of Northern Ireland (CCNI) and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and has advised both bodies of this announcement.

SSE Airtricity is Northern Ireland’s No.1 natural gas provider and is the regulated supplier of natural gas to almost 120,000 domestic and business customers* in the Greater Belfast Market, equivalent to around 75% of all natural gas customers in the area.

Stephen Wheeler, SSE Airtricity Managing Director, said:

“I’m pleased that we’re able to announce today that we’re holding our natural gas prices for our domestic and small business customers at their current levels until October later this year1.

“At SSE Airtricity we work hard at all times to ensure that we provide the energy our customers need in a reliable, sustainable and affordable way. Today’s announcement means that our natural gas customers will enjoy stable gas prices for a period of at least 18 months since we last changed our tariffs.

“This price stability demonstrates the real benefits that we’ve delivered to our gas customers since SSE acquired the former Phoenix Supply business in June 2012. Since then we’ve used our scale and our buying power through SSE on wholesale GB gas markets to introduce much greater price stability into Northern Ireland’s natural gas market. In this way we’re able to pass on the benefits of that scale and buying power to our customers through more affordable and less volatile gas prices.

“Also, by delivering stable gas prices we’re emphasising once again the undoubted consumer benefits of cheaper and cleaner natural gas for heating homes compared with the price of heating oil which remains highly volatile and is 20% more expensive that gas2.”

* Figures quoted based on Quarterly Transparency Report Q3 2013 published by the Utility Regulator, November 2013.

Note to Editors:

1. Under the annual Price Control review process the setting of SSE Airtricity’s regulated natural gas prices, including any changes to those prices, require the Regulator’s formal approval. Annual price changes, if they are to be applied, take effect from 1 April each year.

The Price Control process also allows for an interim or 6-month review by the Regulator of SSE Airtricity’s natural gas tariffs with any mid-year price changes, if required, taking effect from 1 October each year.

1. Natural gas remains the most attractive and cheapest form of home heating for householders when compared with oil. The price of oil, which is not subject to any price control process, remains highly volatile. Over the last 12 months heating oil prices have been 20% more expensive† than natural gas, confirming once again that natural gas is the cheapest alternative for consumers to heat their homes.

1. SSE Airtricity is Northern Ireland’s second largest energy provider, supplying natural gas and greener electricity to over 300,000 Northern Irish homes and businesses. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the FTSE-listed and Perth, Scotland, based SSE plc.

† Source: Phoenix Natural Gas Limited (February 2014), 12 month comparison of the cost of Pay-As-You-Go Natural Gas Prices with the cost of the Retail Oil Prices.