AGM 2000

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
27 July 2000

                                      
                  SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ENERGY plc, 2000 AGM


*    Lord Wilson to stand down as Chairman at the end of November

*    Dr Bruce Farmer to succeed him as Chairman

*    A number of major contract wins for SSE Telecoms place it well to deliver
     turnover in excess of £30M.

Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, Chairman of Scottish and Southern Energy plc, said at
today's  AGM  in  Bournemouth, 'The strategic rationale for bringing  together
Scottish   Hydro-Electric  and  Southern  Electric  has  been   very   clearly
demonstrated  by our first set of results.'  He paid tribute  to  staff   'who
have  done a great job delivering the synergy savings from the merger  and  at
the  same time produced marked improvements in the service we provide for  our
customers.'

Commenting on the financial performance the Chairman said 'We are also able to
report  an exceptionally strong financial performance with profits showing  an
increase of 13.5%.  We have already achieved the first £53M of synergy savings
which  represents  an  impressive 14% reduction in controllable  costs.   This
strong  performance  at  all  levels, plus the impact  of  our  share  buyback
programme has increased earnings per share by 15.6%.  19.6 million shares were
purchased at a weighted average price of  £4.88.

'The  Board has recommended a full year dividend of 27.5p, an interim dividend
of  8.3p and a final dividend of 19.2p.  That's an increase of 7% in line with
our  undertaking to deliver 5-8% real dividend growth to March  2000.   During
the  coming  five  years  we have committed ourselves  to  continue  producing
sustained  real  dividend  growth, with the aim of producing  4%  real  or  7%
nominal in the first three years.

'We  announced  two  strategic developments during the year  in  telecoms  and
e:commerce.   We have committed to invest up to £45M installing an  additional
1,500kms  of  fibre  optic cable extending our existing  telecoms  network  in
Scotland to link with Glasgow and Edinburgh and using our electricity  network
in  the  south to provide telecoms links to Reading, Basingstoke, Southampton,
Bournemouth and into central London.


'We  have  concluded a number of major contracts for customers in  the  south.
Our  first  is  with  the  Learning Network South East  (LeNSE)  which  brings
together  10  universities and colleges based in central southern England  who
are  going to use our new telecoms network.  We are also going to provide  the
Isle  of  Wight Cable and Telephone Company with fibre optic capacity  through
our  submarine cable which links the island's electricity network  to  the  UK
mainland.  This and other contracts put SSE Telecoms well on target to deliver
turnover in excess of £30M in the current financial year.'

Outlining  Scottish  and Southern Energy's e:commerce strategy,  the  Chairman
said  'Scottish and Southern Energy is making a £15M investment to allow  mass
market   customers   to   register  and  receive  quotes   on-line,   or   via
hienergyshop.co.uk to purchase over 1,000 electrical appliances  at  discounts
of  up to 20%.  This is in addition to the flexible internet billing which our
industrial and commercial customers have been benefiting from for some time.

'Simple2, also part of this investment, will see Scottish and Southern  Energy
moving  into  the  financial services sector and  offering  a  wide  range  of
products from a number of providers.  This new service will be launched in the
autumn with the provision of stakeholder pensions.'

Outlining the operational performance for the first three months of this year,
the  Chairman  said,  'I am delighted to report that our customers  are  again
benefiting  from improved operational performance with further  reductions  in
customer  minutes lost and failures against guaranteed standards.  I  am  also
pleased  to  report that our safety and environmental performance  is  better.
Our priority for the remainder of the year is to maintain this.'

Scottish and Southern Energy also announced at today's AGM that Chairman, Lord
Wilson of Tillyorn, is to stand down at the end of November after nearly eight
years.  Dr Bruce Farmer, at present Deputy Chairman, will succeed him and  Ian
Grant will take over as Deputy Chairman.

Commenting on his retirement the Chairman said, 'The last two years have given
me  the opportunity to see Scottish and Southern Energy firmly established  as
one of the UK's leading energy companies.

'I  have  every confidence that Bruce Farmer with his extensive experience  of
industry both in the UK and internationally, along with Ian Grant and the rest
of  the Board will give excellent leadership to our Group.  This together with
our executive team and outstanding staff, so ably led by Jim Forbes, will keep
Scottish and Southern Energy right in the forefront of the UK's leading energy
companies.'

Notes to Editors
1.    Dr  Bruce  Farmer (63) is Chairman of The Morgan Crucible  Company  plc,
Bodycote plc and Devro plc.  He is President of the Institute of Materials and
a  Council member of the CBI.  He was previously Chairman of Southern Electric
from  April  1998  until the merger with Scottish Hydro-Electric  in  December
1998.   He  was Chief Executive of The Morgan Crucible Company and  Wellworthy
and Brico Engineering.

2.    Ian  Grant  (56)  is  the Chairman of the Crown  Estate  Commission  for
Scotland,  the  Cairngorm Partnership and Scottish Hydro-Electric's  Community
Trust.   He  is  also  a  non-executive director of the NFU  Mutual  Insurance
Society, the Scottish Exhibition Centre Ltd and East of Scotland Farmers Ltd.

Enquiries:

Scottish and Southern Energy                      0870 9000410
Hazel Fowlie

Financial Dynamics                                0207 831 3133
Ben Foster