Energy giant SSE feeling the heat from its Peterhead power station plans
Energy company SSE has been feeling the heat this week as activists ramped up their actions around the company’s AGM, demanding the firm abandon plans to build a new gas burning power station in Peterhead.
The new power station would lock in polluting gas for decades to come, blowing past Scotland’s climate targets and trapping people with sky-high energy bills, set by the international price of gas.
SSE tries to market itself as a green and progressive company, but in reality, 60% of their energy generation capacity comes from burning gas in power stations like at Peterhead. The company makes hundreds of millions of pounds in profits from this side of their business, and wants to continue doing so.
Public pressure and people power has been known to make companies like SSE think twice before ploughing on with unpopular projects. This week showed a groundswell of resistance against new fossil fuel infrastructure which will only get stronger.
Digital actions expose SSE greenwash
In the week leading up to the AGM, activists targeted SSE’s online presence, accusing the company of greenwashing its image. SSE’s website and social media pages are full of images of wind turbines, solar panels and Pride flags, with no mention of their 14 gas burning power stations.
However, the comments on these posts tell a different story, with activists calling out the greenwash and asking SSE why it is pushing forward with plans for burning more gas if they care so much about a transition to renewable energy.
Activists left Google reviews exposing the truth about SSE on some of the company’s key locations across Scotland. They also sent emails to bosses at SSE Thermal, the fossil fuel side of the business, and called the SSE offices to demand that they drop the Peterhead project.
Protests at SSE AGM in Perth
Climate and fuel poverty activists protested outside SSE’s AGM to urge shareholders to withdraw their money from the company. The protesters brought a model gas power station to the AGM’s venue to highlight SSE’s determination to continue burning gas for profit.
Activists from the North Sea Knitters group went inside the AGM and interrupted the Board’s address to call on the company to abandon their plans for new gas infrastructure. The knitters spoke about their grandchildren’s futures and the impact that continuing to burn fossil fuels is having on future generations, and highlighted the devastating impact of high energy bills driven by the price of gas are having on families in Scotland right now. They also pointed out that SSE has repeatedly failed to answer their questions about the viability of carbon capture technology, despite going to their offices on several occasions to talk about the issue.
Shareholders also challenged the SSE Board should on their claim “that carbon capture technology would capture 95% of the emissions” from the new power plant when evidence from around the world shows that the technology will not work at this scale.
Next steps for the campaign to stop new gas in Peterhead
People power works – in the past, campaigns like this one have put a stop to the Hunterston coal power station, the fracking industry and the Cambo oil field. We can build a better future where we meet our energy needs affordably without burning gas, but we need to keep up the pressure.
Take action to stop new Peterhead Gas
Sign the petition to call on the Scottish Government to reject the planning application for the new Peterhead power station, and write to your MSPs today to urge them to put pressure on the decision-makers to reject the application as well.
If you’d like to collect some signatures for the petition in your neighbourhood, you can sign up to receive an activist pack with everything you’ll need here, and keep an eye out for our flyering training coming up soon!