SSE Airtricity Gas NI Limited - SSE Airtricity announce 10% gas and electricity price cuts saving households over £100 annually

26 February 2016

Third successive energy price cut saves SSE Airtricity customers £260 in just over 12 months

SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland’s second largest home energy provider, is announcing 10% reductions in its gas and electricity prices which will save its Northern Ireland household customers over £100 annually¹. The reductions will apply to all of SSE Airtricity’s 345,000 home and small business customers or around one third of the energy market².

This is the third successive price cut by SSE Airtricity for its household energy customers in just over 12 months and means SSE Airtricity customers are now saving £260 on their annual energy costs compared with just over a year ago³.

From 1 April 2016, SSE Airtricity is reducing its regulated natural gas prices for its home and small business customers by 10.2%. This will mean an annual saving of £53 for a typical household natural gas customer using a credit meter and £52 for a Pay-As-You-Go meter customer¹. The price cut follows the annual review by the company of its costs associated with its regulated natural gas business which is conducted at this time every year. This gas price review was completed by SSE Airtricity in consultation with the Utility Regulator, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI), and the Consumer Council of Northern Ireland (CCNI)⁴.

SSE Airtricity is also reducing its standard home electricity prices by 10.3% with effect from 1 June 2016. This will mean an annual saving of £51 for a typical household electricity customer paying by Direct Debit and £53 for a KeyPad meter customer¹. The reduction will apply to all home electricity customers including those on introductory switching discounts. New home electricity customers switching to SSE Airtricity from other providers will also benefit. Electricity prices for small business and farm tariff customers will reduce at the same time by 10% on average, saving a typical small business around £200 annually⁵.

Stephen Wheeler, SSE Airtricity Managing Director, said:

“This is our third successive price cut for home energy customers and I’m pleased that we’re delivering once again on our long-standing promise to bring down gas and electricity prices when we can for the benefit of our customers.

“With today’s announcement we are further cutting gas and electricity prices by just over 10% for each fuel type, meaning annual savings for a typical household energy customer with SSE Airtricity of over £100. This is the third successive price cut by SSE Airtricity in just over 12 months, meaning in the same period we’ve delivered energy cost savings of £260 for our household energy customers. That’s making a difference where it matters most for our customers, in the household purse.”

The cut to natural gas prices will apply to around 135,000 home and small business customers in the Greater Belfast natural gas supply network or 71% of the market, while the cut to electricity prices will apply to around 210,000 home, small business and farm tariff customers or 25% of the total electricity market².

SSE Airtricity is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the FTSE-listed and Scotland based SSE plc.

1. Savings quoted based on a household energy customer on standard 24hr credit meter tariffs (Home Energy Standard for gas and Direct Debit with eBilling Standard for electricity) with typical annual consumption of 12,500 kWh for natural gas and 3,200 kWh for electricity. Figures rounded to the nearest Pound value and are inclusive of VAT. Actual savings vary according to meter type, individual tariff and consumption.
2. SSE Airtricity provides natural gas to 133,503 Domestic and Small Industrial & Commercial customers in the Greater Belfast area. SSE Airtricity provides electricity to 212,219 Domestic (including Farm) and Small Business Customers in Northern Ireland. Price cuts being announced do not apply to around 5,000 Small Business customers on fixed price contracts. Figures quoted based on latest Retail Market Monitoring Quarterly Transparency Report Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2015 published by the Utility Regulator, February 2016.
3. Combined £260.66 saving quoted based on SSE Airtricity 10.2% (£52.83) gas and 10.3% (£50.74) electricity price reductions being announced today combined with 7.8% (£49.42) natural gas and 8% (£43.34) electricity price reductions from 1 April 2015; 10% (£57.61) natural gas price reduction from 1 October 2015; and 1.3% (£6.72) electricity price reduction from 11 January 2016.
4. Under the annual Natural Gas 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.
5. Average 10% reduction for Small Business and Farm Tariff customers based on individual price decreases by tariff type ranging from 7.5% to 11%. Typical saving for a Small Business customer based on Popular SME Standard with typical annual consumption of 15,000 kWh. Actual savings vary according to individual tariff and consumption.

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