Household supply sold to OVO; brand retired

SSE Energy Referral Code

Q: Can I switch to SSE Energy and claim a referral reward?

No. OVO Energy completed the purchase of SSE Energy Services — SSE's domestic retail business — in January 2020 for £500 million, taking around 3.5 million customers and 8,000 staff with it. OVO traded under the SSE brand under licence for a transitional period and then phased it out, moving all accounts onto OVO Energy. There is no SSE household supply brand to join.

Q: But SSE clearly still exists — I can find it.

You can, and this is exactly where people go wrong. SSE plc remains a major energy business in generation, networks and renewables, and SSE Energy Solutions still exists and is part of SSE Group rather than OVO — SSE publishes its own page specifically to explain that distinction, which tells you how often the two are confused. Only the household supply business was sold. The name on the shop is not the company, and the check that resolves it takes two minutes: find the registered company name and number in a website's footer, which is frequently not the brand name, and look it up on the companies register.

Q: I was an SSE customer. What happened to my account?

It moved to OVO Energy. Your terms, your tariff and any referral scheme available to you are OVO's, so that is where to look rather than here.

Q: What was the reward supposed to be?

Two different figures have circulated for this scheme: "up to £70" in some places and "£35 split 50/50 between the referrer and the person who is referred" in others. Neither is actionable in any case, since the household brand no longer accepts new customers.

Q: Is SSE Energy Solutions the same company as SSE Energy Services?

No, and mixing them up is the easiest mistake to make here. SSE Energy Services was the household supply business sold to OVO in 2020 and no longer exists under the SSE name. SSE Energy Solutions still exists today and is part of SSE Group — it has nothing to do with OVO. SSE publishes its own page to explain the distinction, precisely because the two names are so easily confused.

Q: What should I do instead if I want to switch with a referral?

The same four things, whichever supplier you pick. Compare each tariff's annual cost using your own consumption in kilowatt-hours from a real statement, not a comparison site's assumed usage. If the annual difference between two tariffs exceeds the referral reward, the cheaper tariff wins and the reward is irrelevant — a referral bonus is a tiebreaker, never a reason to switch. Check exit fees on both the tariff you are leaving and the one you are joining, because a single exit fee can exceed an entire referral reward. And check that the supplier still exists in the form the offer describes; this story is the reason that belongs on the list.

You cannot switch to SSE Energy — OVO bought its household supply business in 2020 and the brand was retired

SSE's household energy supply business, SSE Energy Services, was bought by OVO Energy in January 2020. OVO used the SSE brand under licence for a period before retiring it and moving all accounts to OVO Energy.

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Genie Says

SSE Energy is not a household supplier you can join. OVO Energy completed the purchase of SSE Energy Services, SSE's domestic retail business, in January 2020 for £500 million, taking around 3.5 million customers and 8,000 staff and becoming the UK's second-largest supplier at roughly 5 million customers; OVO traded under the SSE brand under licence during the transition, then retired it and moved every account to OVO Energy. The trap is that "SSE" has not vanished — SSE plc continues in generation, networks and renewables, and SSE Energy Solutions is part of SSE Group rather than OVO. Two different reward figures have circulated for the old scheme, "up to £70" and "£35 split 50/50"; neither is actionable.

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Not available. Two different figures have circulated for this scheme — "up to £70" and "£35 split 50/50" — and neither is actionable now that the household brand no longer accepts new customers.per successful referral*

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How to Use a SSE Energy Referral Code

Know that this supplier brand is retired

OVO bought SSE Energy Services in January 2020 for £500m with 3.5 million customers, then phased the brand out.

If you were a customer, look to OVO

Your account, tariff and any referral scheme are OVO's now.

Do not confuse it with SSE Energy Solutions

That still exists and is part of SSE Group, not OVO. SSE publishes a page specifically to explain the difference.

Check any supplier still exists as described

Find the registered company name and number in the website footer — often not the brand name — and look it up on the companies register.

Reward Details

Your Reward: None. SSE Energy Services was acquired by OVO Energy in January 2020 and the SSE household supply brand has been retired.
Referrer Reward: Not available. Two different figures have circulated for this scheme — "up to £70" and "£35 split 50/50" — and neither is actionable now that the household brand no longer accepts new customers.
Minimum Purchase: Not applicable.
Validity: The sale completed in January 2020. OVO used the SSE brand under licence for a transitional period before retiring it and moving all accounts to OVO Energy.
Available In: UK
Referral Limit: Not applicable.
Payout Time: Not applicable.
Eligibility: If you were an SSE Energy Services customer you are an OVO Energy customer now. Any current terms, tariffs or referral scheme are OVO's — look there. Note separately that SSE Energy Solutions still exists and is part of SSE Group, not OVO.

Why Choose SSE Energy?

Sold in January 2020 for £500 million

3.5 million customers and 8,000 staff moved to OVO, making it the UK's second-largest supplier at around 5 million customers.

The brand was licensed back, then retired

OVO traded under the SSE name and colours during the transition before moving every account onto OVO Energy.

"SSE" has not vanished — which is the trap

SSE plc continues in generation, networks and renewables, and SSE Energy Solutions is part of SSE Group. Only the household supply business was sold.

Two different figures have circulated for the reward

"Up to £70" in some places, "£35 split 50/50" in others. Neither is actionable now.

About SSE Energy

SSE's household energy supply business was sold to OVO in 2020 and the brand has been retired — but SSE plc and SSE Energy Solutions still exist as separate, live companies. Here is how to keep them apart.

The correction first, because everything else follows from it: you cannot sign up to SSE Energy as a household supplier. That business is not SSE's and the brand no longer trades.

What happened. In January 2020 OVO Energy completed the purchase of SSE Energy Services — SSE's domestic retail business — for £500 million, taking around 3.5 million customers and 8,000 staff with it. The acquisition made OVO the UK's second-largest energy supplier, at roughly 5 million customers. OVO continued to trade under the SSE brand under licence for a period, keeping the familiar logo and colours, while it moved accounts across — and then phased the brand out entirely. SSE Energy Services customers are now OVO Energy customers.

Two different reward figures have circulated for this scheme — "up to £70" in one place, and "£35 split 50/50 between the referrer and the person referred" in another. Neither is an offer you can take up now, since the household supply business no longer exists as SSE.

Here is the part that catches people out, so read it carefully: "SSE" has not disappeared from the energy market.

SSE plc still exists and remains a major energy business — generation, networks and renewables. And SSE Energy Solutions still exists and is part of SSE Group. It is not part of OVO. SSE publishes its own page specifically to explain this, which tells you how often the two are confused. A reader who searches "SSE energy" today will find a live, substantial company — and might reasonably conclude that it describes a household supplier they can join. It does not. The household supply business and the wider group are two different things, and only one of them was sold.

The same structure recurs elsewhere in this market, and it is worth learning once: the name on the shop is not the company. A brand can be sold, licensed back for a transition, and then retired, while a company of the same name carries on doing something else entirely. The check that resolves it takes two minutes: find the registered company name and number in the website footer — frequently not the brand name — and look it up on the companies register.

What to do if this page is where you landed.

If you were an SSE Energy Services customer, you are an OVO customer now, and the terms, tariffs and any referral scheme that apply to you are OVO's. Look there, not here.

If you were looking to switch and wanted a referral reward, the practical advice is the same as on our EDF page and does not depend on which supplier you choose:
1. Compare the annual cost of each tariff on your own consumption in kWh, taken from a real statement — not a comparison site's assumed usage.
2. If the annual difference between two tariffs exceeds the referral reward, the cheaper tariff wins and the reward is irrelevant. A referral bonus is a tiebreaker, never a reason to switch.
3. Check exit fees on both the tariff you are leaving and the one you are joining. One exit fee can exceed a whole referral reward.
4. Check whether the supplier still exists in the form the offer describes. A familiar energy brand can be someone else's and then nobody's, and the UK domestic supply market has changed hands and lost participants often enough that this is not a theoretical concern.