The boss of power giant SSE has challenged the UK’s new energy secretary to back the Press and Journal’s campaign for a fair deal on power bills for north and north-east families.
The firm’s chief executive Alistair Phillip-Davies told the Conservative minister Amber Rudd that two-thirds of its customers back the end of a charging system that penalises northern Scotland.
He said the current regional model causes “confusion” for consumers, and that moving to a flat, national rate would ensure costs were “spread fairly and equitably”.
In a letter to the head of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Mr Phillip-Davies said the issue should be considered as part of the consultation on costs for consumers in the north of Scotland that was promised by Chancellor George Osborne at the Budget in March.
The Press and Journal launched a campaign last October to end the “postcode lottery” that leaves Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands and islands paying a higher rate for power than anywhere else in the country because of distribution costs.
Since then, the regulator Ofgem has launched a review of the system and the former coalition government pledged a consultation that would aim to peg the costs in the region to the next highest area, saving customers about £30 a year.
However, the new Conservative majority government has refused to commit to that initiative, which was spearheaded by former chief Treasury secretary Danny Alexander, telling the Press and Journal this month that is the government was “considering how it takes forward a number of policies”.
Campaigners and SSE want minister to go much further than the £30-a-year saving for the north and north-east, by abolishing the regional pricing system completely.
In his letter, Mr Phillip-Davies said: “SSE believes that the variations in network costs across the Great Britain causes customer confusion, especially in the domestic market.
“SSE has long been making the case for tackling this and simplifying energy prices for customers.
“We think the benefits of a move to ‘national pricing’ with the electricity transportation costs flattened out to one standard charge for every customer across Great Britain are worth considering.
“Our position has been informed through speaking to our customers and the results are clear: consistently two thirds of people support an end to regional price differentials and a move to ‘national pricing’. ”
He added: “I hope that you will consider this issue as part of the forthcoming consultation on distribution costs for customers in the north of Scotland compared to that of other regions in GB, which was proposed in the Budget in March 2015.”
A DECC spokeswoman said: “Our priority is keeping bills as low as possible for families across the country, no matter where they live. Ofgem is looking into this issue and we will carefully consider all evidence.”