Making energy bills easier to understand: how ScottishPower is leading the way

Customers should be able to understand their energy bill without needing to contact customer service for clarification. That’s one of the reasons ScottishPower became the first energy supplier in Great Britain to partner with Plain Numbers.

Energy bills contain important information, but they can often be difficult for customers to navigate. Complex terminology, detailed pricing information and a high volume of numbers on a document can create confusion.

When customers don’t fully understand what they’re being charged, it can lead to frustration, increased contact volumes, payment worries and a lack of confidence all round.

This challenge is more significant than many organisations realise. Around half of UK adults have the numeracy skills expected of a primary school leaver, while at least one in five people report feeling anxious when dealing with numbers. For a sector that regularly communicates tariffs, standing charges, unit rates and price cap information, improving understanding is both a customer and business priority.

Recognising this, ScottishPower partnered with Plain Numbers in 2024 to make customer communications clearer, more accessible and easier to act on.

Why Plain Numbers?

Plain Numbers helps organisations present numerical information in ways that are easier for customers to understand and use. Through its evidence-based Plain Numbers Method, it combines clear communication principles with behavioural science to provide context around numerical information and improve comprehension across a broad range of audiences.

The approach is not about oversimplifying information. Instead, it focuses on helping more people understand complex information quickly and confidently, regardless of their level of numeracy.

For ScottishPower, the objective was clear: customers should be able to understand their bill the first time they receive it. With a diverse customer base and a highly regulated operating environment, creating communications that work for as many people as possible is essential.

Working to regulation

The Plain Numbers Method is designed to work in the real world. While still allowing ScottishPower to meet all the regulated factors required to be on the bill, without making anything confusing.

ScottishPower’s work with Plain Numbers demonstrates how organisations can improve customer understanding while continuing to meet industry regulations and business requirements.

Building capability across the organisation

A key focus of the partnership has been developing long-term capability within ScottishPower, rather than delivering a one-off communications project.

To date, 12 ScottishPower colleagues have completed Plain Numbers Practitioner training, equipping them with the skills and ongoing support needed to apply the methodology across a variety of customer communications.

This approach ensures that clear communication principles become embedded within the organisation, creating lasting benefits that extend beyond a single document or customer journey.

One of the most significant outcomes of the partnership has been the redesign of ScottishPower’s cash bill. Since October 2024, the retail communications team has been applying Plain Numbers principles to rebuild the document from the ground up.

This has been a particularly ambitious project due to the complexity of the bill itself. As a highly regulated, commercially critical document issued to a large proportion of ScottishPower customers, it represents one of the most important customer communications the organisation produces.

Why it matters for ScottishPower

Improving customer understanding is first and foremost about delivering a better customer experience. However, the benefits extend beyond customer outcomes alone.

Clearer communications can help reduce customer confusion, lower unnecessary contact volumes and improve customer confidence at key moments in the customer journey. When customers understand the information they receive, they are better placed to make informed decisions and are more likely to feel positive about their interactions with their energy provider.

In a competitive market, trust and transparency are increasingly important drivers of customer satisfaction and loyalty. Making communications easier to understand supports both.

Looking ahead

The ambition extends far beyond billing.

ScottishPower is exploring how the principles of Plain Numbers can be applied across a wide range of customer communications, from letters and emails to app notifications and other service interactions.

By building internal expertise and providing teams with continued access to support and guidance, the partnership is helping create a long-term culture of clearer communication. As the first British energy supplier to adopt this approach, ScottishPower is setting a new benchmark for customer communication in the energy sector. Together, ScottishPower and Plain Numbers are working to make complex information more accessible, helping customers feel more informed, confident and in control of their energy decisions.