Sainsbury’s Energy Scottish Power (September 2026)
Overview
There is no single best choice: compare price, service, app and green-energy evidence separately.
About Sainsbury's Energy and Scottish Power
Who is Sainsbury's Energy?
Sainsbury's Energy is a partnership between the supermarket brand and E.ON Next. It is not an energy supplier itself; E.ON Next holds the licence and supplies the gas and electricity. This means customers get their energy and customer service from one of the UK's largest suppliers, while the Sainsbury's brand gives the tariff names and rewards. The supplier keeps its tariff range simple, focusing on standard and fixed deals, and offers discounts on home energy upgrades like solar panels and electric vehicle chargers.
Products & services
Awards & recognition
Who is Scottish Power?
Scottish Power was formed in 1990 and is now owned by the Spanish energy group Iberdrola. It is one of the UK's largest domestic energy suppliers, providing gas and electricity to homes across the country. It also runs the local electricity network in parts of Scotland, Wales, and England. A key feature of Scottish Power is its long-running partnership with Cancer Research UK, raising millions of pounds through specific charity tariffs. It also runs a rewards club and sells home products like boiler care, solar panels, and electric vehicle chargers.
Products & services
Awards & recognition
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Tariffs and pricing
Both suppliers offer standard variable tariffs as their cheapest overall options. Sainsbury's Energy's Sainsbury's Standard Variable tariff and Scottish Power's Standard tariff both cost £1,611 a year. These prices are identical under our assumptions, and both are variable with no fixed term or exit fees.
For households looking to lock in their unit rates, Sainsbury's Energy offers the cheaper fixed deal. Its lowest-priced fixed tariff costs £1,640 a year on a 24-month contract, which is £190 less than Scottish Power's 12-month fixed option at £1,830 a year.
Customers should note that leaving the Sainsbury's Energy fixed deal early incurs a £200 total exit fee. In contrast, Scottish Power's cheapest fixed tariff does not charge an exit fee.
| Metric | Sainsbury’s Energy | Scottish Power |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest tariff exit fee | £0 | £0 |
| Cheapest fixed tariff exit fee | £200 | £0 |
Sainsbury's Energy and Scottish Power: Tariff Options
Sainsbury's Energy
Sainsbury's Energy offers a simple range of standard variable and fixed tariffs. Its fixed deals last for 12 or 24 months. The supplier focuses on rewarding customers with Nectar points.
Scottish Power
Scottish Power offers standard variable and fixed tariffs, with fixed terms lasting 12 months. It also provides specialist options for homes with heat pumps or electric vehicles, as well as tariffs that support charity.
Customer reviews
Scottish Power holds a slightly higher overall Trustpilot score of 4.4 out of 5 from over 203,000 reviews, compared to Sainsbury's Energy's 4.3 out of 5 from 3,139 reviews. However, 80% of Sainsbury's Energy reviews are five-star, whereas Scottish Power receives 60% five-star ratings and 19% one-star ratings.
Feedback for Sainsbury's Energy frequently highlights helpful staff and prompt online communication, though some users mention minor billing errors. Scottish Power customers also note polite staff and a straightforward online experience, but some report unexpected costs and slow response times.
In the annual Which? survey, Sainsbury's Energy performs better with an overall score of 71 out of 100, compared to Scottish Power's 56. Sainsbury's Energy scores 4 out of 5 for customer service, 8 out of 15 for complaints handling, and 8 out of 10 for smart meters. Scottish Power receives 2 out of 5, 4 out of 15, and 4 out of 10 across the same respective categories.
App quality and features
Scottish Power provides a mobile app for account management, whereas app ratings for Sainsbury's Energy are not currently available in our dataset.
The Scottish Power app scores 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store from 87,000 ratings, and 4.7 out of 5 on the Google Play Store from nearly 97,000 ratings. The Android version has over a million installs and has been updated recently.
Recent release notes for the Scottish Power app indicate that Direct Debit customers can now view a detailed monthly breakdown of their energy usage. However, a sample of recent iOS reviews highlights some customer frustration regarding smart meter data displays and unexpected billing charges.
Service and support
Average wait: 1.3 min
Hours: Weekdays 9am–5pm, closed Saturday, closed Sunday
Replies: 94% within 2 days
Hours: 24/7
Average response: ~2 min
Hours: Business hrs
Scottish Power receives a Citizens Advice score of 2.94 out of 5, placing it 10th in the rankings. Equivalent data from Citizens Advice is not currently available for Sainsbury's Energy.
Scottish Power customers wait an average of 1 minute 16 seconds to speak to a call centre agent. The supplier responds to 94.3% of emails within two days and takes about 2 minutes 25 seconds on average to reply on social media.
Scottish Power accepts Direct Debit, cash, cheque, and prepayment methods, with phone lines open on weekdays from 9am to 5pm. It also has formal vulnerability commitments registered with Citizens Advice.
| Metric | Sainsbury’s Energy | Scottish Power |
|---|---|---|
| Average social media response time | N/A | 2 minutes 25 seconds |
Complaints and performance
Complaint figures are shown with each supplier’s reporting period. No winner is declared when periods differ or one figure is missing.
Green Energy Comparison
Sainsbury's Energy
All Sainsbury's Energy tariffs offer 100% renewable electricity. The supplier matches the electricity its customers use by buying Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates. This shows that a matching amount of electricity was generated from renewable sources, rather than the supplier generating the power itself. It does not currently offer carbon offsetting for gas as a standard feature. It also helps customers make their homes greener by offering discounts on solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicle chargers through its partner E.ON Next.
Scottish Power
Scottish Power's parent company builds and runs wind farms, but the electricity Scottish Power supplies to its domestic customers is largely fossil fuels, with some renewable, nuclear, and other sources. It does offer specific green tariffs that match electricity use with renewable generation. The supplier also invests in green energy projects across the UK and offers discounts to customers who buy solar panels and battery systems.
Our verdict
| If you care most about | Choose |
|---|---|
| The lowest annual cost on our assumptions | Either |
There is no single best choice: compare price, service, app and green-energy evidence separately.
Use the decision table to match the available evidence to the factors that matter most to your household.
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Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Sainsbury’s Energy or Scottish Power?
On the stored annual-cost assumptions, Sainsbury’s Energy is £1,611 and Scottish Power is £1,611. The difference is within £5 a year, so it is treated as a tie.
Can Sainsbury’s Energy and Scottish Power complaint rates be compared directly?
No direct complaint-rate winner is declared because Sainsbury’s Energy and Scottish Power do not both have figures for the same stated reporting period.
Which supplier leads on customer service?
The supplied data does not support a like-for-like customer-service winner.
Which supplier has the better app evidence?
The supplied data does not support a like-for-like app winner.
Do tariff eligibility rules matter?
Yes. Specialist, time-of-use, EV, heat-pump and export tariffs can have equipment, meter or account requirements. Check the current supplier terms before applying.
Which supplier has the greener evidence?
The supplied data does not support a like-for-like green-energy winner. This row is based on published fuel-mix percentages.
Which is better overall, Sainsbury’s Energy or Scottish Power?
There is no single overall winner in this repaired draft. Price, service, app and green-energy evidence are kept as separate choices in the decision table.
When was this comparison updated?
The structured source payload is for September 2026.
What changed this month
This month, Scottish Power's iOS sampled positive reviews rose from 1 to 3, Scottish Power's iOS sampled reviews avg stars rose from 2.33 to 6, and Scottish Power's iOS sampled negative reviews fell from 2 to 0. There were 14 other data changes this month — see the full changelog below for details.
Data changes this month (22)
Sainsbury’s Energy
- Trustpilot reviews3,127 → 3,139
- Trustpilot negative reviews replied %35 → 31
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,804.81 → £1,610.88
- Cheapest fixed tariff£1,840.79 → £1,639.64
- Cheapest tariff£1,804.81 → £1,610.88
- Shortest fixed term12 months → 24 months
Scottish Power
- Trustpilot reviews198,589 → 203,838
- Trustpilot negative reviews replied %91 → 92
- iOS app ratings count86,000 → 87,000
- iOS app days since last update26 → 28
- iOS sampled reviews avg stars2.33 → 6
- iOS sampled positive reviews1 → 3
- iOS sampled negative reviews2 → 0
- Play Store rating4.7281113 → 4.731496
- Play Store ratings count95,532 → 96,905
- Play Store days since last update27 → 28
- Play Store positive ratings %94.2 → 94.3
- Play Store neutral ratings %1.3 → 1.2
- Play Store net-positive %89.7 → 89.8
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,804.74 → £1,610.81
- Cheapest fixed tariff£1,990.1 → £1,829.85
- Cheapest tariff£1,804.74 → £1,610.81
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Written by
Rob Gibbs
Hi, I'm Rob, and I run Energy-Review.co.uk. I initially started this project in 2018 when I was looking to switch energy suppliers and found there wasn't a website that provided simple, data-backed reviews on all the suppliers available. Since then, I have spent a lot of time (too much, some may say!) looking at all publicly available data about each supplier and writing reviews using this information. These reviews are updated as regularly as possible, and any data is backed up by a source where necessary. I have also started writing guides on various energy-related topics, which hopefully you will find useful. If you find any issues, please use our contact form to let us know.