Bristol residents and campaigners will stage a protest outside the regional office of Scottish Southern and Electric (SSE) in St Phillips Marsh over the company’s recent price hikes and plans to build new gas-fired power stations in England and Wales.

Press Release – 22nd Feb 2019 – Contact: press@reclaimthepower.org.uk

The protest will be held close to the site where a separate company Conrad Energy has submitted plans for a gas-fired power station.

The news comes as all the major Big Six energy companies have announced price hikes this week. SSE are set to increase prices by £116 per year

People of all ages will gather at 1pm on Friday 22nd February outside SSE’s Bristol offices for the family-friendly demonstration. The protest is being organised by climate action group Bristol Rising Tide and will hear from Residents Against Dirty Energy (RADE) as well as the C.H.E.E.S.E. Project  (The Cold Homes Energy Efficiency Survey Experts) which helps Bristol residents increase the energy efficiency of houses. [1]

SSE are planning to build three new gas plants: Keadby 2 in Lincolnshire is already under construction and two further plants planned for South Wales and West Yorkshire are in the planning stages.

Laurie Underwood, from Bristol Rising Tide, said:

“Big energy companies like SSE are demanding public money to build expensive new gas-fired power stations. This is bad for the climate and bad for our energy bills. If the UK is to meet its climate targets following Paris 2015, then we need to halt the development of these new gas plants, which would lock us into decades of further greenhouse gas emissions.” [2]

“Gas is an expensive means of energy production. Large gas power station are expensive to build; a cost which is borne by the taxpayer and passed on to the consumer through higher prices. This is not a cost that we are prepared to accept.”

“The benefits of SSE’s investments in renewable energy elsewhere are heavily undermined by their plans to also build large new fossil gas power stations.”

SSE’s Bristol offices are also less than 100 metres from the proposed site of a new gas generator plant proposed by Conrad Energy. To date there have been over 235 objections to the plans. [3]

Stuart Phelps from RADE said:

“It’s about time large energy companies, and speculative developers realised that the public no longer believes their scare stories, the lights won’t go out, and we don’t need to pollute the world to keep them on. Renewable energy is replacing fossil fuel generation.”

This protest against SSE is part of a national day of action against fracking and new gas coordinated by environmental justice group Reclaim the Power. Protests are planned at British Gas, HSBC and sites in Leeds, London and Cambridge. [4]

Notes to Editors

[1]   Bristol Rising Tide: https://www.facebook.com/RisingTideBristol/
RADE: https://radebristol.com/
C.H.E.E.S.E: https://cheeseproject.co.uk/

[2] According to the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, the UK must lower gas generation to only 15% of the energy mix by 2032, a fall of 25% from today’s levels. Information on new gas infrastructure within the UK. Coal to Clean: How the UK phased out coal without a dash for gas

https://sandbag.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Coal-To-Clean-May-2018.pdf

[3] Stand-by Gas Generator station. Planning Application Number: 18/05628/F https://planningonline.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=PH3Z7LDNN5000

[4] For more information on the ‘Supply & Demand’ days of action.