nPower are one of the largest energy providers in the UK, powering 5 million homes and businesses.
They’re in the middle of a big change though after announcing a merger with SSE.
Get educated on everything nPower related before you make a switch.
nPower Reviews
- Trustpilot: 0.6 out of 10, based on 1,020 reviews, rated ‘Bad’ overall.
- Which?: Overall customer score of 44% based on 785 customers. On average, customers rate them 2/5 for customer service, bill clarity, and helping customers to save energy. They score just 1/5 for value for money.
- Review Centre: 1.1 out of 5, based on 435 reviews.
- Citizens Advice: 3.25 out of 5, (total number of reviewers not available). nPower came 11th in the Citizens Advice ranking of 23 energy companies. They score an average of 3 stars for complaints handling, ease of contact, and bill clarity, but 4 for how easy it is to switch.
nPower Electricity, Gas & Dual Fuel Tariffs
The tariffs below are based on gas and electric for a semi-detached home at a specific postcode with national average usage. For a more specific tariff, you can enter your own details at npower.com.
You’re given the option of providing nPower with your email address and phone number so they can contact you about your quote, but you can still get a quote without sharing your details.
Green Fix
- Gas – £664.77 annually, 17.43p per day standing charge, 3.85p per kWh.
- Electricity – £660.80 annually, 15.82p per day standing charge, 14.42p per kWh.
- Total annual cost – £1,325.57.
- Estimated monthly cost – £110.46.
- Fixed until Dec 2019.
- No exit fee.
- £90 annual discount for paying with Direct Debit.
- nPower plant a tree for each fuel type you have with them.
- All electricity and 15% of your gas is matched with renewable sources.
Medium Fix
- Gas – £679.84 annually, 17.43p per day standing charge, 3.95p per kWh.
- Electricity – £675.73 annually, 15.82p per day standing charge, 14.78p per kWh.
- Total annual cost – £1,355.57.
- Estimated monthly cost – £112.96.
- Fixed until Dec 2019.
- No exit fee.
- £90 annual discount for paying with Direct Debit.
Long Fix
- Gas – £679.84 annually, 17.43p per day standing charge, 3.95p per kWh.
- Electricity – £675.73 annually, 15.82p per day standing charge, 14.78p per kWh.
- Total annual cost – £1,410.06.
- Estimated monthly cost – £117.51.
- Fixed until March 2021.
- £50 per fuel exit fee if you leave before 10.02.2021.
- £90 annual discount for paying with Direct Debit.
Variable
- Gas – £737.36 annually, 15.82p per day standing charge, 4.35p per kWh.
- Electricity – £781.06 annually, 15.82p per day standing charge, 17.30p per kWh.
- Total annual cost – £1,518.42.
- Estimated monthly cost – £126.54.
- Prices can go up or down.
Feed-in Tariffs are available too if you already generate your own electricity.
Note the tariffs listed above were correct at the time of writing (13 November 2017), although as noted, prices will vary by post code and subject to change at any time.
nPower Business Energy
It’s difficult to get a specific quote for your business address on the website, nPower prefer you call them for prices. Without entering your details, you can still see a broad summary of their two business energy tariffs.
Fixed tariff
- Fixed price for up to 3 years.
- Pick the contract length that works for your business.
- Save 5% surcharge if you pay by Direct Debit.
Variable tariff
- Can switch suppliers with 30 days notice.
- No credit check or deposit.
- Your bills can go up or down.
- Save 5% surcharge if you pay by Direct Debit.
For more see: Npower Business Electricity & Gas Tariffs & Rates
nPower Background
nPower is owned by Innogy group, a German energy company. Their 5 million customers use fuel from nPower’s coal, oil, biomass, and gas-fired power stations. nPower also have access to Innogy’s 25 hydroelectric power schemes, and 160 wind turbines. Their wind farms alone can power 400,000 homes.
According to the nPower website, they’re the “only energy company to have received triple certification to the Carbon Trust Standard”. In other words, they’ve been commended for reducing carbon consumption, and they’re starting with their own office, aiming to reduce their HQ’s carbon emissions by 25% by 2020.
If you choose their Green Energy Fix tariff, nPower will even plant a tree in the UK for each fuel type you use as part of their partnership with Trees for Cities.
Recently, nPower announced a merger with SSE domestic energy, but it’s not clear how that’s going to affect any of their current or future customers just yet.
nPower Smart Meter
Like the rest of ‘The Big Six’, nPower are rolling out smart meters gradually. If you’re eligible (the rules are a bit vague, but you can get all the info on the Smart Energy GB site) you can book an installation.
Smart meters mean you don’t have to manually submit meter readings anymore and your bill will be more accurate. You can also monitor your usage on the screen throughout the day and reduce consumption in real-time.
Your electricity usage will be reported every few seconds, and your gas usage every half an hour. The government have set a deadline for energy companies to provide all eligible customers with smart meters free of charge by 2020.
If you’re an nPower customer or about to be, you can register your interest by filling out their smart meter request form.
Other nPower Meters
nPower provide a ‘third-generation’ thermostat called Nest, much like British Gas‘ Hive app.
You can buy a Nest Thermostat for £159 (around £50 more expensive than Hive annually), but it’s usually £219 according to a banner on the nPower login page.
Nest learns what your energy habits are and creates a schedule. You can also use it to control your energy remotely with your smartphone, know when you’re saving energy or spending too much, and check your usage over time.
This smart thermostat isn’t suitable for homes with electric storage heaters or electric under floor heating. nPower don’t say explicitly what installation costs are, but they’re not included in the £159 if you check the small print. It’s a good idea to check this out before you buy.
nPower Bills
There’s a detailed video explaining the layout of your bill on the nPower help page. They also have guidance for people who pay by Direct Debit, cash/cheque, or prepayment meter.
When it comes to paying your bill, you can choose either a monthly Direct Debit, quarterly variable Direct Debit, or to pay for whatever you’ve used each quarter by cash or cheque.
nPower Warm Home Discount
nPower was part of the 2017/18 Warm Home Discount scheme, which gives vulnerable people £140 towards their energy bills. When he scheme for 2018/19 reopens you will be able to apply via their website or by phone.
nPower App
The nPower app has all the usual functionality, including being able to submit meter readings and setting up Direct Debit payments.
It also shows the user a timeline of their energy usage, has a CO2 tracker, and boasts a build-in torch which “makes light work of even the darkest cupboards”. Most smartphones have a built-in torch now, so this aspect could be a bit of a gimmick.
On average, 2,683 iPhone users give the nPower app 4/5 stars and 5,975 Android users give it 3.5 stars. Overall, the users are pretty impressed.
Switching To nPower
Switching takes 17 days on average, which nPower refer to as ‘Quicker switching’. 17 days is actually pretty average for ‘The Big Six’, so their definition of ‘quicker’ is a bit meaningless.
Moving Home With nPower
You’ll need to log into your account to let nPower you’re moving home. It’s a good idea to do this once you know your moving date.
If you’re moving into a home nPower already supply and want to stick with them, you can choose a new tariff pretty easily.
As tariffs vary from region to region, and depending on what kind of home you live in and how your boiler functions, you might find the prices go up or down if you move to a different area if you stick with nPower.
nPower Fuel Mix
Coal – 1% (8.5% UK average)
Natural gas – 79.9% (44.1%)
Nuclear – 0.9% (21.0%)
Renewable – 18% (24.2%)
Other – 0.4% (2.2%)
nPower Feed-in Tariff
nPower is a mandatory Feed-in Tariff (FIT) licensee. This means you can receive your FIT payments from them (as long as your system is MCS certified) if you are an nPower customer or your current energy supplier is not a FIT licensee. You can learn more on their website.
nPower In the News
nPower hands German parent company a £427m headache
13 Nov 2017, The Guardian
nPower blame their recent ‘writedown’ of £427m on “the worsening UK energy market and Prime Minister Theresa May’s price cap”.
Energy price caps and big mergers will only serve to shore up the ‘big six’
12 Nov 2017, The Guardian
An analysis of SSE and nPower’s merger, price caps, and nPower’s recent losses. It’s unknown how it will affect customers, or whether or not it will even benefit them.
SSE confirms merger with nPower
8 Nov 2017, BBC News
SSE and nPower have announced a merger and will be forming a new energy company together. This would turn ‘The Big Six’ energy companies into ‘The Big Five’.
nPower holds dining event to highlight ‘heat or eat’ dilemma
1 Nov 2017, Campaign
Teaming up with chef Jack Monroe, nPower set up a pop-up restaurant as a PR stunt to highlight that “1 million households are facing a ‘heat or eat’ dilemma”. The energy provider is asking for donations to the nPower foundation and “will match the first £50,000”.
nPower Complaints
The reviews are pretty bad overall. On Review Centre, many complain of being overcharged and having trouble setting up a new account. A few reviews are more balanced, with customers saying they save money overall but regularly have to ask for recalculations.
Their write-up on Which? isn’t very flattering – nPower have come last in their energy company rankings for the seventh year in a row. This annual survey is apparently “the biggest of its kind”, and takes into account the views of 8,917 members of the public.
According to nPower’s own stats, they receive 43% of their complaints about billing, 22% about payments and 10% about metering. They also claim that about half of complaints are resolved within 1 day.
Contact Phone Numbers & Email
Phone: 0800 073 3000 (Mon-Fri 8am-8pm)
Email: An email address is only provided for making complaints – complaints@npower.com. You can message nPower about something else using their live chat.
nPower Address
nPower, PO Box 177, Houghton le Spring, DH4 9AQ
Website: http://www.npower.com
nPower Summary
Now it’s been confirmed that nPower are going to merge with SSE, it’s a bit unknown what their tariffs are going to look like in the future and what name they’ll even trade under. Consumers looking to switch should bear this in mind when they’re considering cost, fuel mix and all the other essentials.
Pros:
- Fuel mix uses less coal than average.
- App has advanced features and gets great reviews.
- A good selection of tariffs, including one with pretty good green credentials.
Cons:
- Biggest increase in prices out of all the Big Six in 2017 according to the Telegraph.
- Lots of complaints about customer service.
- In the middle of a merger, so their future is uncertain.