SSE plc (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy plc) is a multinational
energy company headquartered in
Perth, Scotland. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...
, and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest mar ...
. SSE operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
History
Origins
The company has its origins in two
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, in ...
electricity supply authorities. The former
North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board was founded in 1943 to design, construct and manage
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined a ...
projects in the
Highlands of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
, and took over further generation and distribution responsibilities on the nationalisation of the electricity industry within the United Kingdom in 1948.
The former
Southern Electricity Board was created in 1948 to distribute electricity in
Southern England.
[ 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.
Because of its history and location, the Hydro-Electric Board was responsible for most of the hydroelectric generating capacity in the United Kingdom. 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
Scottish Hydro plc was a public electricity supplier formed on 1 August 1989 after a change of name from North of Scotland Electricity plc on that date. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Inde ...
, whilst the Southern Electricity Board became Southern Electric.
Post privatisation
Scottish and Southern Energy was formed in September 1998, following a merger between Scottish Hydro-Electric and Southern Electric. In August 2000, Scottish and Southern Energy acquired the SWALEC energy supply business. SWALEC operate exclusively in Wales while SSE operates in Scotland and England.
In July 2004, the company acquired the Ferrybridge and Fiddlers Ferry power stations for £250 million. In January 2008, it went on to buy Airtricity Holdings, an Irish wind farm business. In August 2009, it agreed to purchase Uskmouth power station from Welsh Power Group. In April 2010, the company purchased the natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...
exploration
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
and production assets of Hess Corporation in three areas of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf – Everest/Lomond, Easington and Bacton.
In January 2010, Scottish and Southern Energy changed the core company branding from Scottish and Southern Energy to SSE.
Separation of retail supply division
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. It was planned that SSE shareholders will own 65.6% of the demerged entity and Innogy would hold the remainder. 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, and full clearance was given on 10 October 2018, it was abandoned on 17 December 2018, with the companies blaming "very challenging market conditions".
In September 2019, SSE announced that it would be selling its retail business to OVO Energy: the transaction was completed in January 2020.
Swiss holding company
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. It said the move was:
The Labour Party said:
Other divestments
In August 2021, SSE agreed to sell its 33.3% stake in gas distribution company SGN for £1.2 billion.
Operations
SSE Thermal operates a series of UK power stations, while SSE Renewables builds and operates onshore and offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and has hydroelectric operations in Scotland. Jointly owned with American waste management company Wheelabrator Technologies, Multifuel Energy Ltd operates multi-fuel power stations at Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire.
Initiatives
Living wage
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.
Fair Tax Mark
In October 2014, SSE became the first company on the FTSE 100 to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark
The Fair Tax Mark is an independent accreditation awarded by the Fair Tax Foundation after an assessment based on "Transparency ndtax rate, disclosure and avoidance"... As of January 2016, it is applicable to UK businesses. The process of assessi ...
which is an independent accreditation process for identifying companies making an effort to be transparent about their tax affairs.
Sponsorship
The company currently sponsors the SSE Arena in Belfast. 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.
Other
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.
Regulator action
In April 2013, industry regulator Ofgem fined SSE £10.5 million for mis-selling gas and electricity.
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.
See also
*Energy policy of Scotland Energy policy in Scotland is a matter that has been specifically reserved to the UK parliament under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998 that created the devolved Scottish Parliament. However, since planning is a matter that has been devolved, the S ...
* Electricity in Northern Ireland
* Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
* Green electricity in the United Kingdom
* Peterhead Power Station
References
External links
*
Scottish and Southern Energy Networks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish And Southern Energy
1998 establishments in Scotland
Energy companies established in 1998
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
Electric power distribution network operators in the United Kingdom
Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Perth, Scotland
Electric power companies of Scotland
Utilities of Scotland
Wind power companies of Scotland