Britain's SSE will cut energy bills, but later than rivals

LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - British energy supplier SSE (Berlin: SCT.BE - news) will cut its prices in response to a government pledge to remove some taxes and social charges from bills by the end of the current financial year, later than most of its rivals, the company said on Tuesday.

Britain's 'big six' utilities agreed in December they would pass on savings from a government plan to shift some of its environmental taxes away from companies in an effort to cut soaring energy bills in the run up to a 2015 election.

The debate over how much Britons pay to heat and light their homes has turned into big political issue since Labour leader Ed Miliband said in September he would freeze consumer bills for 20 months if he wins power.

SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) , the second largest of the six firms, which supply 98 percent of the country's homes, said all its customers will see a price reduction, but only from Mar. 24.

Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) 's British Gas, E.ON, EDF (EUREX: DE000A1XQ1S7.EX - news) and Scottish Power have announced they are passing on those savings from this month, which equate to about 50 pounds ($82) a year on household energy bills.

"We are cutting the unit rates for customers on our variable tariffs by an average of 3.5 percent from 24 March 2014," said SSE's managing director for retail, Will Morris, in a statement.

The remaining 'big six' supplier, RWE (Xetra: RWE.DE - news) npower, is expected to make an announcement on Wednesday.

Britain's utilities are not obliged to pass on the savings enabled by the government, but due to growing public outrage over rising prices they are fully expected to do so.