Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JANUARY 2021 | 25 Customers So, if you have to choose by size alone, go for a medium size supplier – not surpris- ingly, because they have proved their ability to attract and retain several hundred thou- sand customers over a period of time. However, why choose on the basis of size alone? There are significant differences between suppliers of similar size. Any par- ticular one may be much higher or lower than the median. Size alone is not sufficient to guarantee a high customer satisfaction score. OCS league tables The table shows the OCS league table as calculated on three dates over the past two years. It is divided into four divisions, reflect- ing a balance of quartiles and natural breaks. Back in May 2018, Bulb was outstanding, with a score of over 88. Ovo, Utility Ware- house, Bristol Energy and PFP Energy were also in Division 1, with scores over 75. British Gas with nearly 60 was the only large sup- plier to make Division 2; the other five were in Divisions 3 and 4. Over time, scores and standards generally increased: initially a supplier with a score of 60 was in Division 2, but two years later it was in Division 4. Some of the large sup- pliers rose up over time, notably EDF, British Gas and SSE into Division 2 and Eon to the top of Division 3. Despite increased scores, Scottish Power and Npower remained in Division 4. Division 1 comprises the outstanding per- formers, with Avro, Octopus and So Energy maintaining their positions there for more than a year, and Bulb still there since the beginning. Outfoxthemarket and Pure Planet are new entrants at the top; Cooperative Energy has significantly improved its posi- tion over time. In contrast, Ovo and Bristol have slipped from Division 1 to 2 to 3, Ecotricity from Divi- sion 2 to 3 to 4. Some of those who have performed rela- tively poorly over time have since leœ the market, such as Green Star, iSupply, Solar- plicity, Economy Energy. In fact, no supplier that has stayed below 50 has lasted in the market. Indeed, aœer this league table was calculated in August 2020, Tonik Energy fell further and then leœ the market. Together Energy is still there, having recently taken on Robin Hood Energy and related suppliers, but its score of 43.6 is very low. What about their tariffs? Do suppliers with high OCS scores tend to have higher or lower tariffs than other sup- pliers? Competition on fixed tariffs tends to be on price and there is no obvious impact of OCS score. But there are two particu- larly interesting findings about standard variable tariffs. Between May 2018 and February 2019, before the imposition of the default tariff cap, suppliers with higher OCS scores had, on average, lower variable tariff price – by about £5 per year per OCS point. So a differ- ence of 20 points in the OCS score meant, on average, a tariff that was £100 a year lower. The default tariff cap significantly reduced tariff dispersion. Many suppliers simply set their variable tariff equal to the cap. The above relationship no longer obtained. But a few suppliers have consistently offered vari- able tariffs with a saving of more than £100 on the default tariff cap. And those suppli- ers – principally Avro, Bulb, Octopus and So Energy – have consistently been in Division 1 of the OCS league since they first joined. This seems an important and encourag- ing development. The OCS scores enable cus- tomers to identify those suppliers that offer higher satisfaction as defined by customer bodies and customers themselves. They can thereby better identify suppliers that it is worth switching to, and suppliers to whom it is worth being loyal. A bonus, then, is to find that customer loyalty to the highest scoring suppliers pays off more explicitly. The ability to switch is critical, but it is not necessary to keep changing supplier or tariff repeatedly to get the benefits of competition. Stephen Littlechild is Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham; Fellow, Cambridge Judge Business School; Associate Researcher, Energy Policy Research Group, University of Cambridge and was the first Director General of Electricity Supply (1989-1998). To see Prof Littlechild's analysis of TrustPilot scores, see https://utilityweek.co.uk/what-are- customers-saying/ 22 July 2019 Division 1 So Energy 86.6 Octopus Energy 84.8 Bulb 83.8 Engie 81.8 Green Network Energy 76.5 Avro Energy 74.9 Division 2 Ovo Energy 73.8 Flow Energy 73.8 Tonik Energy 71.6 Utility Warehouse 70.5 Robin Hood Energy 69.6 Bristol Energy 68.4 EDF Energy 67.2 Division 3 British Gas 65.9 Cooperative Energy 63.6 Ecotricity 63.5 ISupplyEnergy 61.0 Shell Energy 60.5 SSE 60.1 Utilita 60.0 Division 4 Solarplicity 53.5 Together Energy 49.2 Eon Energy 47.0 Scottish Power 46.3 Npower 46.1 My Greenstar Energy 44.2 06 May 2018 Division 1 Bulb 88.4 Ovo Energy 79.1 Utility Warehouse 78.0 Bristol Energy 76.3 PFT Energy 75.4 Division 2 Ecotricity 70.1 Shell Energy 64.2 Cooperative Energy 61.1 Robin Hood Energy 61.0 British Gas 59.7 Good Energy 59.4 Division 3 My Greenstar Energy 58.2 Spark Energy 58.1 iSupplyEnergy 57.3 SSE 56.7 EDF Energy 52.5 Economy Energy 52.4 Division 4 Npower 47.2 Eon Energy 46.5 Utilita 45.8 Scottish Power 43.4 NB: Divisions reflect a balance of quartiles and natural breaks 27 August 2020 Division 1 Avro Energy 84.5 Octopus Energy 84.1 So Energy 83.1 Cooperative Energy 78.1 Bulb 77.6 Outfoxthemarket 77.2 Pure Planet 76.7 Division 2 Utility Warehouse 73.5 Utilitypoint 73.4 E 72.3 Green Network Energy 71.5 EDF Energy 70.9 British Gas 69.8 SSE 69.6 Division 3 Eon Energy 67.6 Ovo Energy 66.6 Bristol Energy 63.1 Utilita 62.4 Shell Energy 61.6 Boost Power 60.7 Division 4 Scottish Power 60.1 Robin Hood Energy 59.9 Ecotricity 59.1 Npower 53.0 Spark Energy 52.0 Tonik Energy 49.0 Together Energy 43.6 OCS League Tables, 2018-20

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