As part of its next batch of customer commitments, SSE said it will contact all customers every year to check that they are on the right tariff and are getting all benefits and discounts to which they are entitled. It will also trial some stripped down, simplified bills to gauge their impact on customers. The firm said it will also work to reduce estimated bills ahead of the smart meter rollout. SSE will recruit 200 staff to deliver its ambitions.
The company will also make its customer service calls free for customers.
Meanwhile SSE also wrote this week to small energy suppliers to tell them it will sell them the types of wholesale product that they need. Liquidity has long been an issue for small suppliers, some of which have complained that they cannot easily access the smaller chunks of product that they need to service their smaller customer bases. That in turn limits their opporunty to grow, creating a barrier to competition in a market dominated by six big companies.
SSE said suppliers with up to 250,000 customers would have access to forward contracts in any standard traded product in any volume up to the supplier’s total customer demand. There will be no minimum contract, known as ‘clip’ size.
The comapany said it would benchmark market prices for that volume and allow small suppliers to trade in and out as often as they like.
At the Day Ahead stage SSE said it will settle the existing trade position as a Contract for Difference against the Day Ahead market auction and then sell back the nominated shape at the hourly auction price.