No other industry fares so badly when it comes to billing their customers correctly, answering their calls promptly and offering value for money, according to Which?.
Insurance companies, mobile phone operators, supermarkets and even banks beat energy companies, the hard-hitting report says.
Npower, with 6.5 million customers, emerged as the worst performer from the survey of 8,600 Which? members, with the report calling the company's performance "abysmal".
The report comes just a few weeks after the leading providers raised their prices for the second time this year to take the average annul dual fuel – gas and electricity – bill to more than £1,400.
Jess Ross,editor of Which said,: "This is the first time that we've asked members about their energy suppliers and we're shocked to see the results – too many suppliers are letting customers down and charging them more and more for the privilege.
"These companies are providing essential services that people can't live without, but this isn't an excuse to offer poor value for money."
Only a quarter of households have been told by their supplier that they can save money by switching their payment methods. Paying by direct debit, rather than by cheque, can save the average customers as much as £200 a year.
Less than a third – 32 per cent – of Npower's customers were prepared to say they were "satisfied" with the service they received, with one customer Julia Macphie saying, "The customer service is a farce. Despite 30-odd phone calls, eight visits by different meter readers and several letters Npower hasn't sent me a correct bill for nearly two years."
British Gas only fared slightly better with 40 per cent of customers saying they were satisfied. The highest-rated company was Utility Warehouse, a relatively small supplier that is run as a discount club, which charges a small membership fee.
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