SSE gives early Christmas bonus for gas consumers

Alistair Phillips-Davies, Energy Supply Director of the energy giant Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), informed that the UK-based company will issue £12 credit to every household with a pre-payment fuel meter to help keep expenses down during the periods when they use large amount of gas. The energy company will give notice that outlines details on how the credit is to be applied by customers before 25 December.

Based on the standard credit tariff, pre-payment SSE customers pay £18 per year higher than other consumers using similar amount of gas. Because households use about two-thirds of their yearly gas expenditure from November to April, SSE says that the £12 credit is the same to deferring the additional costs during the months when consumers use the most gas.

Alex Neil, Minister of Housing and Communities, welcomed SSE’s decision of issuing credits valued at £3.5 million to around 295,000 pre-payment gas meter customers. He said that the new policy will benefit every household this coming winter.

Neil also informed Scottish families that help is also available through the government’s Energy Assistance Package. The plan, backed by a £60 million funding, targets to help households reduce their gas bills and become energy efficient.

SSE, the company which supplies homes through the brands Atlantic Electric & Gas, Scottish Hydro Electric, Southern Electric and Swalec, is the highest rated among six UK gas suppliers in the recent energy satisfaction survey conducted by Which? Switch. In 2006, SSE also took away the additional charges being imposed on electricity pre-payment customers.