British energy company
SSE plc
|
Company type
| Public limited company
|
---|
| LSE
:
SSE
FTSE 100 component
|
---|
ISIN
| GB0007908733
|
---|
Industry
| Energy
|
---|
Founded
| 1998
; 26 years ago
(
1998
)
|
---|
Headquarters
| Perth, Scotland
, UK
|
---|
Area served
| |
---|
Key people
| Richard Gillingwater
(
Chairman
)
[1]
Alistair Phillips-Davies
(
CEO
)
[2]
|
---|
Services
| Power generation
and
distribution
,
natural gas
production
, transportation, and distribution, telecommunications, metering
|
---|
Revenue
| £
12,490.7 million (2023)
[3]
|
---|
| £2,407.7 million (2023)
[3]
|
---|
| £(60.6) million (2023)
[3]
|
---|
Number of employees
| 12,180 (2023)
[3]
|
---|
Subsidiaries
| SSE Thermal
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks
SSE Renewables
SSE Airtricity
Multifuel Energy
|
---|
Website
| www
.sse
.com
|
---|
SSE plc
(formerly
Scottish and Southern Energy plc
) is a multinational
energy company
headquartered in
Perth, Scotland
.
[4]
[5]
It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
, and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
. SSE operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
History
[
edit
]
Origins
[
edit
]
The company has its origins in two
public sector
electricity supply authorities. The former
North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board
was founded in 1943 to design, construct and manage
hydroelectricity
projects in the
Highlands
of
Scotland
, and took over further generation and distribution responsibilities on the nationalisation of the electricity industry within the United Kingdom in 1948.
[6]
The former
Southern Electricity Board
was created in 1948 to distribute electricity in
Southern England
.
[6]
Whilst the Southern Electricity Board was a distribution only authority, with no power generation capacity of its own, the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric board was a broader spectrum organisation, with its own generating capabilities.
[7]
Because of its history and location, the Hydro-Electric Board was responsible for most of the hydroelectric generating capacity in the United Kingdom.
[8]
Both authorities were privatised in 1990/91, initially retaining their pre privatisation geographic and functional bases. The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board became
Scottish Hydro-Electric
, whilst the Southern Electricity Board became
Southern Electric
.
[9]
Post privatisation
[
edit
]
Scottish and Southern Energy was formed in September 1998, following a merger between Scottish Hydro-Electric and
Southern Electric
.
[10]
In August 2000, Scottish and Southern Energy acquired the
SWALEC
energy supply business.
[10]
SWALEC operate exclusively in Wales while SSE operates in Scotland and England.
[11]
In July 2004, the company acquired the
Ferrybridge
and
Fiddlers Ferry
power stations for £250 million.
[12]
In January 2008, it went on to buy
Airtricity
Holdings, an
Irish
wind farm business.
[13]
In August 2009, it agreed to purchase Uskmouth power station from Welsh Power Group.
[14]
In April 2010, the company purchased the
natural gas
exploration
and
production
assets of
Hess Corporation
in three areas of the
United Kingdom Continental Shelf
? Everest/Lomond, Easington and Bacton.
[15]
In January 2010, Scottish and Southern Energy changed the core company branding from Scottish and Southern Energy to SSE.
[16]
Separation of retail supply division
[
edit
]
In November 2017, it was announced that SSE was looking to separate from its retail subsidiary which would then merge with the
Npower
division of rival
Innogy
.
[17]
It was planned that SSE shareholders will own 65.6% of the
demerged
entity and Innogy would hold the remainder.
[18]
The resulting company would have been listed on the London Stock Exchange and included npower's residential and business retail business, and SSE's residential energy supply and home services business, excluding its business in Ireland. Although the merger received preliminary regulatory clearance from the
Competition and Markets Authority
on 30 August 2018,
[19]
and full clearance was given on 10 October 2018,
[20]
it was abandoned on 17 December 2018, with the companies blaming "very challenging market conditions".
[21]
In September 2019, SSE announced that it would be selling its retail business to
OVO Energy
: the transaction was completed in January 2020.
[22]
Swiss holding company
[
edit
]
In November 2019, SSE moved its UK business into a new Swiss holding company, confirming that it had done so following the Labour Party's pledge to take it into state ownership.
[23]
It said the move was:
an additional safeguard, which SSE does not believe would be required in practice, should SSE's electricity networks businesses and interests in SGN become the subject of proposed legislation for nationalisation.
The Labour Party said:
The UK's energy networks are vital strategic infrastructure on which we all rely. You cannot boil a kettle, heat your home or run a business without the grid. The idea that private owners, who have been ripping off the public, would move offshore in an attempt to prolong the rip-off illustrates just why we need the grid back in public hands.
[24]
Other divestments
[
edit
]
In August 2021, SSE agreed to sell its 33.3% stake in gas distribution company
SGN
for £1.2 billion.
[25]
Operations
[
edit
]
SSE Thermal
operates a series of UK power stations,
[26]
while
SSE Renewables
builds and operates onshore and offshore
wind farms
in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and has
hydroelectric
operations in Scotland.
[27]
Jointly owned with American waste management company
Wheelabrator Technologies
, Multifuel Energy Ltd operates multi-fuel power stations at
Ferrybridge
, West Yorkshire.
[28]
Initiatives
[
edit
]
Living wage
[
edit
]
SSE became the largest officially accredited
Living Wage Employer
in the United Kingdom in 2013. All its employees across the United Kingdom were guaranteed to receive the then-Living Wage rate of at least £7.85 an hour in 2013.
[29]
Fair Tax Mark
[
edit
]
In October 2014, SSE became the first company on the FTSE 100 to be awarded the
Fair Tax Mark
which is an independent accreditation process for identifying companies making an effort to be transparent about their tax affairs.
[30]
The company currently sponsors the
SSE Arena
in Belfast.
[31]
It previously sponsored
Wembley Arena
in London and
The Hydro
in Glasgow, but the naming rights of these venues switched to OVO with the sale of its retail supply division.
[32]
[33]
Other
[
edit
]
In February 2022, the company signed up to the
UN
's Women Empowerment Principles, an initiative to support women in the workplace which was founded by
United Nations Global Compact
and
UN Women
.
[34]
Regulator action
[
edit
]
In April 2013, industry regulator
Ofgem
fined SSE £10.5 million for mis-selling gas and electricity.
[35]
In September 2020, industry regulator
Ofgem
fined SSE £2.06 million for failing to publish information about the future availability of its generation capacity in a timely manner. SSE co-operated fully with Ofgem's investigation.
[36]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"SSE appoints new chairman, to begin April 2021"
.
S&P Global
. 28 July 2020
. Retrieved
2 August
2021
.
- ^
Adam Vaughan (16 June 2017).
"SSE boss gets 72% pay rise weeks after arguing against cap on bills"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
15 August
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Annual Report 2023"
(PDF)
. SSE
. Retrieved
12 February
2024
.
- ^
"Registered in Scotland No. 117119"
. Perth: Scottish and Southern Energy plc. Archived from
the original
on 25 September 2011
. Retrieved
29 September
2011
.
- ^
Brodie, Sophie (5 January 2008).
"The Scottish utility"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London
. Retrieved
29 September
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Katzarov, Konstantin (6 December 2012).
Theory of Nationalization
. Springer Science & Business Media.
ISBN
9789401510554
.
- ^
"In pictures: 70 years of Scottish hydro power"
. BBC. 8 May 2013
. Retrieved
10 March
2019
.
- ^
Clegg, H. A.; Chester, T. E. (September 1953). "The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board".
Public Administration
.
31
(3): 213?234.
doi
:
10.1111/j.1467-9299.1953.tb01689.x
.
- ^
Osborne, Alistair (8 April 2013).
"Margaret Thatcher: one policy that led to more than 50 companies being sold or privatised"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. Retrieved
13 April
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"SSE plc ? The UK's broadest-based energy company"
.
scottish-southern.co.uk
. Retrieved
21 March
2015
.
- ^
"Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) Contact Number"
. Utility Talk. 11 July 2014
. Retrieved
13 April
2017
.
- ^
"Scottish & Southern buys Fiddlers Ferry ? Business News ? Business"
.
The Independent
. 30 July 2004
. Retrieved
21 March
2015
.
- ^
Robbins, Mathieu (4 January 2008).
"Scottish & Southern to buy Irish windfarm firm"
.
Reuters
– via www.reuters.com.
- ^
"SSE plc ? The UK's broadest-based energy company"
.
scottish-southern.co.uk
. Retrieved
21 March
2015
.
- ^
Kennedy, Simon (1 April 2010).
"Scottish & Southern buys Hess assets for $423 mln"
.
MarketWatch
. Retrieved
1 April
2010
.
- ^
"First press release with new branding"
. Archived from
the original
on 7 August 2011.
- ^
Vaughan, Adam (7 November 2017).
"SSE and npower in talks to create giant UK energy supplier"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
8 November
2017
.
- ^
Thomas, Nathalie (8 November 2017).
"SSE and Npower agree to combine household supply businesses"
.
Financial Times
.
The Nikkei
. Retrieved
8 November
2017
.
- ^
Vaughan, Adam (30 August 2018).
"Npower-SSE merger wins go-ahead from competition watchdog"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
24 September
2018
.
- ^
"Competition watchdog clears SSE-Npower merger"
.
BBC News
. 10 October 2018
. Retrieved
10 October
2018
.
- ^
"Energy giants abandon merger plan"
.
BBC News
. 17 December 2018.
- ^
"SSE sale of retail business to Ovo creates new UK energy giant"
.
BBC News
. 13 September 2019
. Retrieved
1 October
2019
.
- ^
"Holding company for SSEN"
.
SSE
. 24 November 2019
. Retrieved
25 November
2019
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"Power firms move ownership offshore to 'protect against Labour renationalisation'
"
.
The Guardian
. 24 November 2019
. Retrieved
25 November
2019
.
- ^
Cameron, Greig (2 August 2021).
"SSE to sell stake in SGN for £1.2bn"
.
The Times
. Retrieved
2 August
2021
.
- ^
"Huge green power station proposed by SSE as it embraces hydrogen and carbon capture"
.
Business Live
. 22 June 2020
. Retrieved
27 February
2021
.
- ^
"Who we are"
.
SSE Renewables
. Retrieved
25 November
2020
.
- ^
"Multifuel Energy Limited: Annual Report"
(PDF)
.
Companies House
. 31 March 2019
. Retrieved
4 November
2020
.
- ^
"Energy firm SSE signs up as living wage employer"
.
BBC
. 27 September 2013
. Retrieved
27 October
2014
.
- ^
"SSE leads way in campaign for fairer taxation"
.
The Herald
. 19 October 2014
. Retrieved
27 October
2014
.
- ^
"Odyssey complex becomes SSE Arena in cost cutting exercise"
. The Ulster Fry. 25 June 2015
. Retrieved
17 March
2018
.
- ^
"Glasgow's Hydro venue renamed ahead of COP26"
.
HeraldScotland
. Retrieved
21 October
2021
.
- ^
Murphy, Sean (14 October 2021).
"Glasgow's SSE Hydro is given brand new name ahead of fans returning"
.
Daily Record
. Retrieved
21 October
2021
.
- ^
"SSE Plc | WEPs"
.
www.weps.org
. Retrieved
22 June
2022
.
- ^
"SSE fined record £10.5m by Ofgem"
.
BBC
. 3 April 2013
. Retrieved
24 August
2021
.
- ^
"Ofgem fines SSE £2.06 million for failing to publish inside information about the wholesale energy market"
.
Ofgem
. 3 September 2020
. Retrieved
4 November
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]
Links to related articles
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