UK energy suppliers should be able to appeal price cap level -SSE

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) -

* British energy suppliers should be able to appeal the level of a price cap on standard energy prices which could come into effect by the end of this year, the chief executive of supplier SSE (Amsterdam: UW8.AS - news) said on Wednesday

* CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies said the cap will discourage investment in the energy supply sector

* "Given how critically important and difficult the task of setting the cap will be, suppliers should have the right to appeal the level of the cap on the merits via an independent expert body such as the Competition and Markets Authority," Phillips-Davies said in a statement

* More clarity is also needed about the criteria under which a price cap will be removed in 2020, allowing suppliers to improve measures for customers during the interim period, he said

* SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) has the most customers on standard variable tariffs among Britain's energy suppliers, at 71 percent at the end of 2017, data from energy regulator Ofgem showed (Reporting by Nina Chestney; editing by Jason Neely)