Yesterday I was at the Edison Electricity Institute's International Utility Conference in London, where I was asked to introduce our keynote speaker - the Energy Minister, Michael Fallon.
I only spoke for a couple of minutes but wanted to use the opportunity to share a few thoughts with both the Minister and the energy industry representatives in the room. Here's a rough transcript of what I said.
"Before introducing our keynote speaker I wanted to say a few words about the energy market here in the UK and how we at SSE regard the current challenges.
"Although prices are coming down following the government's welcome decision to make changes to the Warm Home Discount and the Energy Company Obligation, they remain at historically high levels. As a result, the industry is going through a sustained period of political, regulatory and consumer interest. Scrutiny of this kind is not new in our industry and I welcome it as I recognise that energy is an essential part of people's lives and it is our privilege to supply it to over five million homes and businesses. People need to be able to trust the energy market and we are listening and changing.
"So the sector has a job to do. So do politicians. What we need now is to find agreed and sustainable solutions to the challenges the industry faces as that is the only way SSE and others can commit to the long-term energy investments which the UK needs.
"These investments will come at a cost, which makes the issue of energy affordability all the more critical. While there is no silver bullet here, I strongly believe that solutions do exist.
"As well as getting behind energy efficiency programmes such as the Green Deal it is now time to take a new look at whether funding social levies like ECO through energy bills is the right thing to do. I believe it is more progressive and fairer to fund such programmes through taxation - ensuring that the amount people contribute is proportionate to their income. This approach has widespread support and must be seriously considered as the natural next step after the reforms of ECO announced in December.
"At SSE we respect the job that politicians have to do and we recognise the energy industry must continually adapt to meet the changing needs of the country and our customers. We have an appetite for reform, and it is with this appetite for reform that we will approach the years ahead."