NPS Intelligence (beta)

WEEKLY DIGEST · ISSUE 16

Issue 16 · Sector Highlight · 2026-08-13

Energy & Utilities

Energy and utilities players continue to chase higher customer satisfaction amid fragmented results. SunPower posted a trio of 90-point disclosures in recent months, Ensol claimed 95, and rural cooperative Tipmont REMC registered 92—but AGL Energy remains mired at 10, a fresh disclosure in August marking only incremental progress from its 6 in 2022.

The headline

Fifty-three canonical disclosures across the sector yield a mean NPS of 53.8 and a median of 60.0, both trailing the cross-corpus median of 74. The lag is notable but not uniform: 2026 data alone (eleven disclosures through August) deliver an average of 74.7 and a median of 87.0, suggesting meaningful upward drift among firms that publish transparently. The sector's historical volatility—2018 averaged just 14.7, while 2021 hit 69.6—underscores the difficulty of sustaining reliability and brand warmth in commoditised or infrastructure-dependent markets.

NPS evolution

The trajectory since 2016 has been erratic. After modest 2016–2017 performance, scores collapsed in 2018 before climbing unevenly through 2021, slipping again in 2022, and rebounding sharply this year. The 2026 cohort's 87-point median represents the highest on record, driven by renewable-energy specialists and cooperatives that embed community engagement in their operating models.

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Average disclosed NPS by year — Energy & Utilities

Disclosure volume

Annual disclosure counts peaked in 2020 (ten canonical data points) before moderating. The 2026 count of eleven—already achieved by mid-August—points to renewed momentum, likely reflecting competitive pressure to demonstrate customer centricity as energy transition narratives intensify and regulatory scrutiny grows.

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Disclosure volume by year — Energy & Utilities

Company stories

SunPower's transformation arc

SunPower jumped 39 points from 51 in August 2022 to 90 across three 2026 disclosures, the most recent on August 3. The solar installer tied the score to its "customer transformation journey" and singled out the Megawatt Millennium Solar Project as a milestone. A May disclosure cited completion of 26 commercial projects for Starbucks with the same 90 result, signalling consistent execution at the account level and a shift from transactional hardware sales to managed-service delivery.

Apogee's swing and others at the top

Independent energy retailer Apogee moved from 36 in January 2020 to 78 a year later, the largest recorded delta in the set. Meanwhile E.ON logged 97 in August 2025, the highest single score in the corpus, and solar specialist Ensol claimed 95 in June 2026, asserting the figure sat "significantly above the sector average of 40." Enphase Energy reached a record 82 in April and again in May 2026, coupling the score with unspecified improvements in support infrastructure.

AGL's protracted recovery

Australian incumbent AGL Energy disclosed 6 in August 2022 and 10 in August 2026, framing the gain as evidence of "turnaround strategy" traction. The persistence of a single-digit score—even after four years of remediation—illustrates the durability of reputational damage in retail energy, where billing disputes, tariff complexity, and call-centre friction compound rapidly. A 2017 disclosure showed an internal app pilot hitting +42, a reminder that pockets of innovation can emerge even when the enterprise score lags.

Fresh in 2026

Eleven disclosures since January reveal a cluster of strong performers and one laggard working through legacy issues:

Older nuggets worth a second look

What I'd take away. The 2026 data suggest renewable specialists and cooperatives are pulling away from legacy utilities, yet even long-troubled franchises can inch forward when they commit resources and transparency. The sector's median now matches the corpus, but fragility persists where operational complexity meets commoditised perception.

Generated 2026-08-13 · Source: NPS Intelligence database · 53 scored canonical disclosures.

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