More 'unhappy' with energy firms

Gordon Brown has called on energy firms to reduce bills

The number of customers dissatisfied with their gas and electricity suppliers has grown after this year's price rises, a survey has said.

The study by price comparison website uSwitch found that 41% of customers are now unhappy with the big six energy suppliers, compared with 33% last year.

But an industry body said that official complaints statistics have actually been falling.

Meanwhile, the Government has signalled the end of estimated bills by 2020.

The uSwitch survey questioned 5,465 customers at the end of September.

It found that only 45% of people said energy companies offered value for money.

"Price rises were never going to be a vote winner, but this year's increases have hit people exceptionally hard, and inevitably it has damaged their perception of the industry," said Ann Robinson, consumer policy director at uSwitch.

Its finding comes after Gordon Brown called for firms to cut bills to reflect the recent falls in oil prices.

Customer service

The UK's big six energy suppliers are Scottish Power, Npower, EDF, British Gas, Scottish & Southern, and E.On.

Customers make decisions to switch supplier based on more than just price differentials Energy Retail Association

They are represented by the Energy Retail Association, which questioned the findings of the survey.

A spokeswoman said that complaints about energy companies were on a downward trend and, according to former watchdog Energywatch's final official statistics, they had been falling month-on-month to their lowest recorded levels.

"Customer service is an issue that all energy companies take exceptionally seriously, our competitive market means that customers make decisions to switch supplier based on more than just price differentials," she said.

"The survey highlights this and is a useful indicator of where individual suppliers need to improve."

Average gas and electricity prices have risen 38% in 2008, eclipsing 2006 when average prices rose by 32%.

Customer satisfaction ranking 1. Scottish and Southern Energy 2. EDF Energy 3. Scottish Power 4. E.On 5. British Gas 6. Npower Source: uSwitch

Scottish and Southern Energy topped the uSwitch satisfaction league, with Npower dropping to the bottom.

"We are expanding our call centres, which are all UK-based, and have recruited an additional 300 people across the whole of our customer services operations this year," said Npower's residential customer services head, Julie Jaglowski.

"We are also investing around £200m in our systems, which will dramatically help improve the service customers receive."

EDF Energy was second in the league, Scottish Power was third, E.On was fourth and British Gas was fifth.

Smart meters

The poll comes after the government signalled the introduction of smart meters in all homes in the UK by 2020.

These meters mean information can be exchanged between the user and the supplier in real time, including daily usage and the cost of the energy being used. This would mean the end of estimated bills.

The House of Lords heard that 47 million smart meters would need to be put in. It would take two years to work out how this would be organised and another decade for them to be installed into every home.

The ERA described the move as "a momentous decision for households across Britain", but the Conservatives described the government's actions so far as "particularly lacklustre".