Energia and Power NI, part of Energia Group, are the first energy suppliers to become Plain Numbers Partners.

Plain Numbers works with leading brands to improve customer understanding by changing the way they present numbers in their customer communications.

The statistics around numeracy are stark. In Ireland, 1 in 4  adults score below level 1 for numeracy. In the UK, almost half of working age adults have the numeracy levels of a primary school child, that’s around 20 million people. Northern Ireland is the second worst performing area of the UK for numeracy skills.

This vulnerability can be a barrier to customer understanding for so many people. Energia Group wants to ensure no customer is left behind because of a lack of understanding, particularly these days when people have a greater interest in understanding their energy bills and energy consumption. The Group is partnering with Plain Numbers to deliver additional clarity to Energia and Power NI customers across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland ensuring communications are accessible is a top priority for the Group, and they have already adopted Plain English principles to assess the readability of their documents. With the Plain Numbers Approach, they will take this a step further by simplifying information relating to customer tariffs and billing.

The Plain Numbers Approach is an evidence-based approach. Research trials across a variety of industries and forms of communication saw that when the Plain Numbers Approach was adopted the number of people who understood customer information doubled. 

Key members of the Energia and Power NI Customer Solutions teams have already started the comprehensive Plain Numbers training course. The course brings to life the numerical struggle much of the public must contend with and equips the Practitioners with the tools and strategies that ensure their communications can be sent out in Plain Numbers. The collaborative partnership will see easier to understand communications for customers and aim to empower people to achieve better outcomes.

Mike Ellicock, Chief Exec and Co-Founder of Plain Numbers: “Energia Group is setting itself apart as a market leader by being the first energy firm to Partner with Plain Numbers. It’s great to see Energia and Power NI making genuine moves to enable their customers to better understand their bill and how it’s calculated. The more informed people there are, the more able they are to make the right choices for their financial situation.”

Edel Egan, Customer Value Manager for Energia: “Energia Group’s partnership with Plain Numbers is just a further example of our ongoing commitment to providing the best services for our customers. Plain Numbers is not just an initiative; it’s a commitment by Energia Group to make energy bills more easily accessible, enabling our customers to take control of their energy usage and make informed choices.”