Energy giant SSE has pledged to invest £12million in order to help meet the need to recruit a shortfall of 208,000 workers in the sector by 2023. It has called on firms to invest in the support of apprentices to ensure the UK has the skilled workforce needed to deliver major projects required for the future as half of utility sectors workers are set to retire in the next eight years.
Energy supplier SSE is to reduce household gas prices by 4.1% on April 30 before extending its energy price freeze until at least July 2016. The move is the latest cut by one of the UK’s Big Six energy firms, although SSE’s reduction will take effect much later than the company’s rivals, with British Gas due to cut its gas tariffs by 5% from February 27. In March, SSE pledged to freeze prices until January 2016 after putting up gas and electricity bills by 8.2% in the previous autumn. The UK’s second biggest supplier said today it has extended this guarantee, meaning its gas and electricity prices will not go up before July 2016 at the earliest.
British Gas owner Centrica and rival SSE saw nearly £1.5 billion wiped off their combined market values today after Labour called for new powers to force energy companies to cut household tariffs. Labour wants to give regulator Ofgem the ability to force the companies to pass on falls in the price of wholesale oil and gas to consumers which it was today estimated could knock £136 off the average bill. It set off nervousness among investors about the uncertainty surrounding the sector in the approach to May’s general election, with party leader Ed Miliband already having committed to a price freeze.
Energy giant SSE’s electricity network supports almost 2,000 jobs across the north of Scotland and is expected to have contributed £287million to the economy by the end of this year, research has revealed. The Perth-based firm, which manages 77,000 miles of overhead lines and underground cables across the north of Scotland and through its network in the south of England, added that it has invested £126million this year in the Scottish network to increase its resilience. Through its subsidiary, Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD), SSE operates its electricity distribution network from John O’Groats through Perth and Dundee, as well as 89 Scottish islands, according to the report by Big Four accountancy firm, PwC.