Controversies and complaints
In April 2007, the energy regulator Ofgem urged customers of ScottishPower and EDF Energy to switch to a cheaper provider after the firms refused to cut prices in line with the rest of the industry.[20]
In April 2008, Ofgem launched an investigation into allegations that ScottishPower abused their dominant market position relating to the electricity transmission network they own jointly in Scotland.[21] Ofgem said it had launched its inquiry into Scottish Power and SSE under section 18 of the Competition Act, "based on a formal complaint alleging abuse of a dominant position in the electricity generation sector arising from constrained capacity on the transmission network."[22] The energy regulator believes that energy generators manipulate the power market for profit when supplies are tight because network operator National Grid has to pay utilities to turn their plants on or off to balance supply and demand. This resulted in companies deliberately shutting their plants down when supplies are tight in order to receive a higher payment to start up again, increasing the system balancing costs at the expense of consumers. Ofgem was alarmed that the cost of balancing the system increased from £70 million in 2007/08 to an estimated £238 million for 2008/09 and an expected £258 million in 2009/10, with most of the costs incurred in Scotland. In January 2009, Ofgem suspended the investigation, saying it would be more effective to deal with the wider problem than pursuing the specific case further.[23]
In November 2012, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) publicly listed ScottishPower as one of a number of companies that it had concerns about due to unsolicited telephone calls for marketing. The concerns were based on complaints. In response, ScottishPower said that it was working with the ICO to address any issues.[24]
In early 2015, ScottishPower was temporarily banned from signing up new customers, due to long-standing and serious concerns regarding poor customer service, overdue bills and failure to implement rulings made by the Energy Ombudsman.[25] The company's failings continued to be highlighted in the press later in the year, with complaints levels 20 times those of their best-performing competitor[26]
In April 2016, ScottishPower released a press release that an £18M agreement had been reached with Ofgem following their investigation into customer service standards.[27]
In 2017, ScottishPower created controversy when they pursued a couple for a £4,300 debt despite the couple not owing ScottishPower any money and, moreover, not being customers of the firm. ScottishPower ignored letters from the couple, instead sending bailiffs to the home of the couple. It later transpired that the couple were in no debt to ScottishPower.[28]
In 2020, The Observer gave ScottishPower an award for the year's "worst customer service" for "its singular pursuit of revenue", including sending bills, debt collectors' letters and the threat of bailiffs to people who did not use its services, then refusing to register their complaints.[29]
In January 2021, the Consumers' Association magazine Which? ranked ScottishPower the worst-performing supplier for customer service and the second worst supplier overall in their annual review of energy suppliers.[30] This was repeated in 2026 (both as worst for customer service and second worst supplier overall), only this year adding "complaints performance" and "overall customer score" to the list of worst-performing attributes.[31]
