Energy companies reviewed and rated

Octopus Energy comes out top in the 2019 Which? energy companies satisfaction survey. Robin Hood Energy and So Energy complete the top three energy companies, as rated by their customers.

Just one energy company is a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) this year: Octopus Energy. Find out what it takes to become a WRP and why other firms missed out in our energy Which? Recommended Providers guide.

Which? energy survey results also show that many smaller companies are ranked ahead of Britain's Big Six energy suppliers: British Gas, EDF Energy, Eon, Npower, SSE and Scottish Power. Npower and Scottish Power were the lowest-ranked of the six, with the same customer score of 54%, compared with Octopus Energy’s 80% customer score. The lowest-scoring supplier overall was small firm Solarplicity, with a customer score of just 44%.

England, Wales and Scotland - the results

Supplier	Customer service (phone)	Customer service online	Complaints handling	Helping you understand and reduce energy use	Which? customer score
1. Octopus Energy (168)					80 %
2. Robin Hood Energy (68)			-		78 %
= So Energy (98)			-		78 %
4. Ebico (45)			-	-	76 %
= Tonik Energy (74)			-		76 %
6. Ovo Energy (433)					74 %
7. Utility Warehouse (154)					73 %
8. Bristol Energy (57)			-		72 %
= Bulb Energy (168)					72 %
= Ecotricity (75)					72 %
11. Utilita (110)					71 %
12. Boost Energy (65)					70 %
= Engie (40)	-	-	-	-	70 %
14. Flow Energy (66)			-		68 %
= Green Network Energy (89)			-		68 %
16. Co-Operative Energy (135)					66 %
= First Utility (132)					66 %
18. Green Star Energy (72)					65 %
19. Avro Energy (69)			-		64 %
20. Sainsbury’s Energy (135)					63 %
21. Together Energy (68)			-		60 %
22. SSE (929)					58 %
23. EDF Energy (404)					57 %
= Eon (512)					57 %
= iSupply Energy (45)	-	-	-		57 %
26. British Gas (1,002)					56 %
27. Npower (728)					54 %
= Scottish Power (882)					54 %
29. Economy Energy (83)					53 %
30. Spark Energy (79)					52 %
31. Solarplicity (84)					44 %

Northern Ireland - the results

Supplier	Bill accuracy	Bill clarity	Customer service (phone)	Customer service online	Complaints handling	Helping you understand and reduce energy use	Which? customer score
1. Budget Energy (48)					-		67 %
= Electric Ireland (63)					-		67 %
3. SSE Airtricity Gas (71)					-		62 %
4. Power NI (128)							61 %
5. Firmus Energy (39)	-	-	-	-	-	-	60 %
6. SSE Airtricity Electricity (130)							57 %

Notes

Sample size in brackets. This general public survey was carried out in September 2018.

Overall average customer score is 61% for GB and 62% for NI.

A ‘-’ means there were too few responses to give a rating.

Star ratings explained

We calculate a star rating for each measure for each company. The more stars a company has, the better. We looked at four core areas of customers’ experience.

Bill accuracy and clarity:

Customers’ opinions on how accurate their energy suppliers’ bills are and easy they find them to understand.

Customer service (phone and online):

How well customers feel their suppliers deal with their queries.

Dealing with complaints:

How well customers feel that their complaints have been handled by their energy company.

Helping you understand and reduce energy consumption:

Customers’ opinion on their supplier's efforts to help them know how much gas and electricity they’re using, and how they could be more efficient.

Value for money:

The extent to which customers feel they get value for money from their supplier. This is not price.

Customer score:

Customers’ overall satisfaction and their likelihood to recommend their energy company to a friend if asked.
It is not directly linked to the star ratings.

Compare and switch suppliers

Which? satisfaction survey results 2019

In our energy satisfaction survey, we asked 7,429 energy customers in Great Britain and 499 energy customers in Northern Ireland to rate their gas and electricity suppliers. It’s the biggest public survey of its kind, revealing results for 31 energy suppliers in England, Scotland and Wales, plus six in Northern Ireland.

We asked customers to rate their energy supplier on a range of measures, including customer service online and over the phone, how it deals with complaints, whether it’s value for money, the clarity and accuracy of its bills, and how their supplier helps them understand and reduce their energy use.

Each energy supplier also receives a customer score based on how satisfied customers say they are and how likely they are to recommend their energy company to a friend if asked.

Good news for small energy suppliers

Smaller energy suppliers occupy the top spots in our energy company survey again this year. Only small and medium-sized companies gained five-star ratings from their customers for value for money, complaints handling or bills.

But not all small suppliers excel. Three small energy firms – Economy Energy, Spark Energy, and Solarplicity are the three lowest-scoring energy companies in our survey.

Other small companies, including GB Energy Supply, Good Energy, M&S Energy and PFP Energy did not make it into our table this year because we received too few responses from their customers. Extra Energy did receive a customer score (56%) but has stopped trading since our survey so is not included in the table above.

Read more in-depth analysis of our results in our dedicated smaller energy companies guide.

Bad news for energy giants

Of the Big Six energy suppliers, SSE achieved the highest customer score (58%) this year. Npower and Scottish power scored joint-lowest, with a customer score of 54%. This is an improvement for Npower which has previously finished at the bottom of our energy suppliers’ table.

What about Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland's results are presented in a separate table above. This is because the energy market in Northern Ireland is different to the rest of the UK. The electricity market is regulated and electricity suppliers compete for customers. Gas customers in the Ten Towns area can only be supplied by Firmus Energy but in the Greater Belfast area they can choose between Firmus Energy and SSE Airtricity Gas Supply.

Our survey rates six domestic energy suppliers in Northern Ireland. Click Energy did not get a score or star ratings this year as we received too few responses from its customers. To compare prices in Northern Ireland, see the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland’s gas and electricity comparison tables at www.consumercouncil.org.uk/energy.

Our customer research

In September 2018 we surveyed 8,000 UK adults who are responsible for paying their energy bills about their experience with their gas and electricity suppliers.

Energy companies satisfaction survey 2019