Ultimate Ranking of Energy Suppliers

Are you satisfied by your energy supplier? Are they going above and beyond for you, or do they leave you waiting 40 minutes to get through to them? You can save hundreds of pounds when you switch providers; so, who are the best and the worst?

Once you’ve decided upon the right supplier for you it’s a good idea to conduct an energy price comparison. This will show you the best energy deals in your area. It is expected that energy prices will increase over the coming year, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting optimum value for money.

Firstly, what are the parameters for our ranking?

• Value for money,
• Customer service,
• Green energy usage.

AN OVERVIEW

Niccolo’s favourites:

Energy Company	Best for…	Why
Outfox the Market	Value for Money	Rated 5/5 by customers for Value for Money
Octopus	Customer Service	They scored 92% for customer satisfaction
Ecotricity	Green Energy Usage	They provide 100% green gas and carbon offset gas whilst maintaining cheap prices
Octopus	Overall	They score highly in each individual category

Contract Renewal’s Honourable Mention: Green Energy UK

• They’re the only energy supplier to provide 100% green gas and 100% green electricity,
• They invest in sustainability projects,
• However, they’re a little too expensive for the everyday customer’s budget.

Who can do better:

Energy Company	Struggled in…	Why
Scottish Power	Value for Money	They place their tariffs near the top of the price cap meaning they’ll continue to rise
Scottish Power	Customer Service	Customer DISSATISFACTION score of 92%
Scottish Power	Green Energy Usage	They use the least amount of green energy and the most gas/coal
Scottish Power	Overall	They scored the highest in each category

See how Niccolo’s Business prices compare to The Big Six:

More can be found out here.

Read below for a more detailed breakdown of each category and how different companies compare.

VALUE FOR MONEY

With energy prices likely to rise over the coming months (in February there is an Ofgem cap review and most households haven’t had their meter read recently so are paying the wrong amount). So, it is more important than ever to ensure your supplier is offering you the cheapest possible tariff for the correct amount of energy you consume.

The suppliers who perform the best for value for money are as follows:

1. Outfox the Market

SPECIFICATIONS

• They have multiple tariffs,
  • Cheapest tariff is the One Variable Tariff 6.0
• £30 exit fee,
• Rated 5 stars for Value for Money by its own customers.

1. Octopus Energy

SPECIFICATIONS

• They have multiple tariffs,
  • The Flexible Octopus Tariff means the amount you can rise or fall depending on wholesale energy prices. This allows you to take advantage of any drops in energy prices.
• No exit fee,
• Rated 4 stars for Value for Money by its own customers.

1. Avro Energy

SPECIFICATIONS

• They have multiple tariffs,
  • The Simple and SuperPrime is a 12-month fixed deal, being one of the 10 cheapest in the country right now.
• No exit fee,
• Rated 4 stars for Value for Money by its own customers.
• HOWEVER, there are an overwhelming amount of tariffs with unclear names so comparing them can be confusing.

The suppliers who DO NOT perform well for value for money are as follows:

1. npower

SPECIFICATIONS

• It has been increasing prices over the last 2 years,
  • in 2019 £117 was added to the bills of average energy consumers, and in 2020 some customers’ bills increased by hundreds of pounds a year as result of a change in off-peak night-time tariffs.
• You may be charged an early exit fee if you’re on a fixed term contract,
• Rated 1 star for Value for Money by its own customers.

1. Scottish Power

SPECIFICATIONS

• Their tariffs are priced very close to the maximum price cap rate so customers are likely to increase with the next price cap review in February 2021
  • in 2019 they increased prices by around £117
• All fixed-term tariffs have exit fees,
• Rated 1 star for Value for Money by its own customers.

1. SSE

SPECIFICATIONS

• More than 90% of household had and electricity customers are paying the most expensive rates for their energy,
• They don’t charge an exit fee on their fixed-term tariffs,
• Rated 2 stars for Value for Money by its own customers.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

How do you contact your energy supplier? Below is a table of the most popular ways:

Method of Communication	Percentage Share (%)
Phone	26
Email	20
Live Chat	12
Enquiry form Online	9
App	8
In-person	5
Text Message	4
Letter	3
Social Media	3

Contacting your supplier by phone was the most popular way to interact. So, if most customers are using telephone services, what do to waiting times look like for all energy suppliers?

Energy Company	Customer Service Waiting Time (m:s)
Together Energy	00:51
Ampower	01:04
Green	01:29
Igloo Energy	01:33
Sainsbury’s Energy	01:52
Octopus Energy (and M&S and Coop)	02:04
Utility Warehouse	02:16
Scottish Power	02:28
Outfox the Market	03:13
E	03:42
Bristol Energy	03:45
Shell Energy	04:07
Good Energy	04:28
Utilita	04:31
People’s energy	05:59
OVO Energy	06:55
Green Network Energy	07:49
Spark Energy	08:38
SSE	09:55
Bulb	09:56
EDF Energy	13:26
Ecotricity	14:06
Utility Point	15:55
So Energy	16:52
Avro Energy	18:46
E.On	19:40
Powershop	19:47
Npower	21:41
Orbit Energy	23:16
British Gas	23:32
Boost	40:58

How does your supplier fare?

The suppliers who perform the best for customer service more generally are as follows:

1. Outfox the Market

SPECIFICATIONS

• Received 4 stars for Customer Service from its customers
• Outfox the Market achieved an overall customer satisfaction score of 82%
• It has an average phone service waiting time of 3:13 minutes

1. Octopus Energy

SPECIFICATIONS

• Received 4 stars for Customer Service from its customers
• Octopus achieved an overall customer satisfaction score of 92%
• Octopus has an average phone service waiting time of 2:04 minutes,
• They achieved 4 stars for their Handling of Complaints from its customers.

1. OVO Energy

SPECIFICATIONS

• Received 4 stars for Customer Service from its customers,
• Avro Energy achieved an overall customer satisfaction score of 89%,
• Avro Energy has an average phone service waiting time of 06:55 minutes,
• They achieved 4 stars for their Handling of Complaints from its customers.

The suppliers who DO NOT perform well for Customer Service are as follows:

1. npower

SPECIFICATIONS

• Received 3 stars for Customer Service from its customers,
• npower achieved an overall customer dissatisfaction score of 92% (voted Poor),
• npower has an average phone service waiting time of 21:41 minutes,
• They received 2 stars for their Handling of Complaints from their customers.

1. Scottish Power

SPECIFICATIONS

• Received 2 stars for Customer Service from their customers,
• Scottish Power achieved a customer dissatisfaction score of 96% (voted Bad),
• Scottish Power has an average phone service wait time of 02:28 minutes,
• They received 2 stars for their Handling of Complaints from their customers.

1. Boost

SPECIFICATIONS

• Received 3 stars for their Customer Service from their customers,
• Boost received a customer satisfaction score of 65%,
• Boost has an average phone service wait time of 40:58 minutes,
• They received 3 stars for their Handling of Complaints from their customers.

GREEN ENERGY USAGE

There is a growing awareness of the impact our choices and lifestyles have upon the rise in Climate Change amongst the UK population. There are government legislations in place to help guide the energy market towards renewable, sustainable fuel mixes, but some suppliers are taking the reins themselves and are offering exclusively green energy to their customers. Green energy sources include:

• Solar Power,
• Wind Power,
• Hydropower,
• Biofuels.

The suppliers who perform well for green energy usage are as follows:

1. Green Energy UK

SPECIFICATIONS

• Green Energy UK provide 100% green gas as well as 100% green electricity,
• Green Energy UK produce all of their gas through anaerobic digestion; this means they don’t have to offset their carbon emissions because they don’t create any,
• Green Energy UK have a 4.5 rating for Customer Service,
• HOWEVER they are an expensive choice, nearly £225 more per annum than The Big Six.

1. Ecotricity

SPECIFICATIONS

• Ecotricity provide 100% green electricity and carbon neutral green gas,
• Ecotricity invest their profits into further renewable projects such as wind and solar farms, as well as owning a grass fed green gasmill,
• They use nearly 100% wind power as fuel,
• Ecotricity tariffs are set at one, simple rate with no contract nor exit fee.

1. Octopus Energy

SPECIFICATIONS

Octopus supply their customers with 100% renewable energy only,

• Octopus invest back into sustainability projects and research
• Some of Octopus’ tariffs are the cheapest AND greenest you can find nationwide,
• Octopus carbon offset their gas.

Other Renewable firms include:

Energy Company	Green Energy Provided
Bulb	One tariff supports 100% renewable energy and 10% renewable gas.
Fischer	Buys renewable energy from Danish Wind Farms
LoCO2	Tariffs all powered by 100% renewable energy and 10% green gas
Tonik Energy	Supplies only 100% renewable energy tariffs.

The suppliers who DO NOT do well at green energy usage are as following:

1. npower

SPECIFICATIONS

• 18% of their fuel mix is green,
• 52% of their fuel mix comes from gas,
• 9.8% of their fuel mix comes from coal.

1. Scottish Power

SPECIFICATIONS

• 15% of their fuel mix is green,
• 66% of their fuel mix comes from gas,
• 7% of their fuel mix comes from coal.

1. E.on

SPECIFICATIONS

• 16% of their fuel mix is green,
• 53% of their fuel mix comes from gas,
• 10% of their fuel mix comes from coal.