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SSE ceased trading on 15 January 2020. Its customers were transferred to OVO Energy under Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort scheme. This page is kept as a historical record.

Founded 1998 About 3.5 million households at the time of the OVO acquisition Perth, Scotland Big Six member

Ceased trading · 15 January 2020

SSE no longer supplies UK households

SSE sold its domestic retail business (SSE Energy Services) to OVO Energy for £500 million to focus on renewable generation and networks. Customers were transferred to OVO Energy under Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) scheme. This page is kept as a historical record. Information presented below was accurate at the time of original publication.

Founded

1998

Years on the UK market

Customers

About 3.5 million households at the time of the OVO acquisition

Households served

About

Who is SSE?

Registered as SSE Energy Services (sold to OVO Energy in January 2020), SSE uses this legal name for Ofgem licence filings, contracts and any formal communications. The trading name customers see on bills is the shorter, more recognisable form.

The company is headquartered in Perth, Scotland, where it runs its senior management, customer operations and regulatory liaison with Ofgem.

SSE was founded in 1998. The supplier operated under a domestic-supply licence until its closure, with a track record of customer service and billing publicly documented for the years it traded.

SSE is part of the OVO Energy (domestic retail division); SSE plc retains generation, networks and business retail group, which provides shared governance, financial backing and a broader pool of expertise in trading, hedging and regulatory work.

The company is regulated by Ofgem, the UK's energy regulator, and its complaint handling falls under the Energy Ombudsman alternative dispute resolution scheme.

Timeline

SSE — key dates

A short timeline of the SSE brand — founding, milestones, regulatory events and the closure that brought it to an end.

  1. 1998

    Scottish Hydro Electric and Southern Electric merge to form Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE).

  2. 2002

    SSE acquires SWALEC, the South Wales Electricity Company.

  3. 2004

    SSE acquires Atlantic Electric and Gas, expanding into the Midlands and North of England.

  4. 2008

    SSE acquires Airtricity for around £1.08 billion, gaining a significant renewable generation portfolio across the UK and Ireland.

  5. 2010

    Scottish and Southern Energy rebrands to SSE.

  6. 2019

    SSE announces it will sell its domestic retail division — SSE Energy Services — to OVO Energy.

  7. 2020

    OVO Energy completes the £500 million acquisition of SSE Energy Services in January, becoming the second-largest UK supplier.

  8. 2024

    SSE-branded domestic accounts have been largely migrated into OVO Energy. SSE plc continues to operate as a major renewable-generation and networks company.

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Common questions

SSE — frequently asked questions

SSE sold its domestic retail business (SSE Energy Services) to OVO Energy for £500 million to focus on renewable generation and networks.

Existing customers were transferred to OVO Energy under Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) scheme — supply was never interrupted.

Your supply has not been interrupted: under the SoLR scheme, your supply is automatically handed to the successor supplier. Log in to the successor's online portal as soon as possible to set up your account, confirm your bank details and download any final SSE statements while the legacy website is still online.

You are not required to pay any exit fee to leave the deemed tariff. Once your account is set up, compare current deals through Selectra to find a cheaper plan that fits your usage.

Yes. Customer credit balances on accounts at the date of cessation are protected under Ofgem's SoLR scheme. The successor supplier (OVO Energy) is required to honour your credit balance. Confirm the balance in writing within the first 30 days to avoid disputes later.

Yes — outstanding debts owed to SSE transfer to the administrator of the company's estate, not the SoLR. You may receive a written demand for the outstanding amount from the administrators. Verify any demand against your final SSE statement before paying.

You can complain about the conduct of SSE (mis-selling, billing errors, customer service) to the Energy Ombudsman, even after the supplier has ceased trading. For complaints about the SoLR transfer itself (delays, incorrect tariff), the route is the same — Ombudsman first, then Ofgem.

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