SSE Energy Services and Shell are among the lowest-rated energy suppliers, according to a Which? survey.
Surveying more than 10,000 customers and covering 16 suppliers in Great Britain last October, the consumer choice researcher ranked Shell and SSE jointly next to the bottom in its assessment score.
Shell scored 58%, as did SSE, while the lowest score came from Scottish Power, with 51%.
Centrica-owned British Gas ranked ninth, with a score of 60%.
Topping the chart was Octopus Energy, with a score of 78%, with Utilita in second at 67% and Utility Warehouse third at 65%.
Scores were determined on consumers’ views of the providers’ practices surrounding customer service, supporting vulnerable customers and complaints data.
The scores are weighted, with 40% of the total score based on support for customers in need, 30% on complaints performance and 30% on customer service.
Which? also said that “for the first time ever, we’ve combined the scores of both our customer survey and our behind-the-scenes assessment.”
Poor customer satisfaction scores don’t seem to have impacted SSE, however, which raised its full-year EPS expectations for 2022/23 as higher gas prices and better gas storage optimisation offset lower-than-expected renewables output and hedge buy-back costs,
The FTSE 100 listed power generator said it now expects EPS to be more than 150p against previous guidance of 120p.
Profits for providers boomed as energy prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly 12 months ago.
However, as wholesale prices begin to fall, household energy bills are also expected to retreat.
Research from the energy consultancy Cornwall Insights predicts the Ofgem energy price cap will be £3,208 for the average household from April, £300 lower than previously forecasted, but fall to £2,200 in July.
In 2022, Cornwall Insight had predicted the average energy bill would rise to £6,600 per year by April as Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine pushed up energy bills.