Demand on the North American grid is rising rapidly as data centers, renewable generation, and electrification change power flows and expand network models. Control room operators must manage more data and alarms with less time to act, even as the expectation for reliable, available power remains unchanged.

Jean Marc Moulin, Head of Strategy and Portfolio Management for Network Control at Hitachi Energy, explains why modernization must extend beyond replacing an outdated system. Utilities need a resilient, field-proven control foundation that can evolve safely as operations, markets, and grid conditions change. He outlines three priorities: innovate through customer collaboration and open, standards-based technology; power operators with field-proven applications augmented by AI while keeping them responsible for consequential decisions; and unify data, processes, and applications from the field to the business. Together, these priorities enable utilities to command complexity while preserving operational authority.

Complexity Is Changing the Control Room

Demand on the North American grid is growing rapidly. Data center interconnections, variable renewable generation, and electrification are changing power flows and expanding network models.

For control room operators, that means more data, more alarms, and less time to act while balancing the system in real time.

What has not moved is the expectation on the other side of the meter. Power is supposed to be reliable, available, and completely invisible, and nobody revises that expectation to account for how complicated the system behind it has become, least of all when a storm is passing through.

Modernization Must Extend Beyond Replacement

Control system modernization has moved up the utility agenda. The challenge is maintaining operational authority as complexity grows while continuing to control the power system safely and reliably.

For organizations relying on outdated solutions, the priority should be clear: replace systems that can no longer keep pace with market evolutions. And know that technology may not always be the prime mover. The key is to leverage field-proven, scalable solutions that are designed to both expand and grow to accommodate today’s requirements as well as evolve safely as operations, markets, and grid conditions change.

A system replacement program should not exchange one static system for another. It should establish a resilient, field-proven foundation that delivers control from the start and can absorb new applications, data sources, operating models, and technologies without forcing the utility to begin again.

A control platform built for continuous evolution provides that path, and should be guided by three themes: innovate, power, and unify.

Innovate Without Disrupting Operations

Innovate means adopting new capabilities as operational needs, technologies, and markets evolve. Collaboration between utilities and suppliers should support co-creation to accelerate innovation grounded in real operational needs. Open, standards-based interfaces allow utilities to add proven applications and technologies without disrupting the trusted control environment.

A prime example of collaboration in action is Slovenian TSO ELES. It is co-creating capabilities with its SCADA/EMS supplier, using open APIs to integrate its proprietary applications into its EMS. This collaboration grounds innovation in operational needs while supporting a smarter, more resilient Slovenian grid.

Keep Operators at the Center of Intelligence

Power means giving operators more usable grid intelligence while keeping them in command. Field-proven, deterministic applications build the operational picture and calculate potential actions. AI can further augment that foundation by detecting patterns, improving forecasts, prioritizing alarms, explaining what matters and why, making analytical outputs easier to interpret, and making complexity simpler to understand.

Crucially, AI does not independently calculate the operational solution nor make the decision.

AI uses deterministic, field-proven programs to compute solutions; operators assess the options, simulate where appropriate, and choose the action. This combination helps utilities command complexity and control power through a safe, supervised path toward greater automation.

Connect the Field to the Business

Unify means connecting data, processes, and applications so the utility can operate as one system from the field to the business. Combining telemetry, alarms, events, studies, dynamics, and operational knowledge gives operators a consistent view of grid conditions and makes the same information available for planning, market, asset, and enterprise functions. This reduces silos and supports faster, more coordinated decisions across the utility.

This model is already being applied in diverse operating environments such as ELES and Abu Dhabi-based transmission system operator EWEC. We also see American organizations like Louisiana-based DEMCO that reimplemented its OMS in the middle of Hurricane Ida after its existing system failed. Within hours, operators regained real-time visibility to prioritize outages and direct field crews safely.

Together, these real-world examples illustrate how a modern control foundation can improve integration, support coordinated grid operations, and expand as operational and market needs evolve.

A Practical Test for Modernization

The case for replacement is strongest when an outdated system constrains visibility, integration, cybersecurity, or the ability to introduce new capabilities. But the journey matters as much as the decision to replace. Utilities need a platform and a supplier/partner that allows 1. evolution and co-innovation as the challenges of tomorrow come to light; 2. operator-centered intelligence grounded in proven applications augmented by AI; and 3. connected data and workflows from the field to the business.

A practical modernization plan should answer four questions: Does it address today’s operational constraints? Can it incorporate new applications and data sources without major disruption? Does the introduction of AI keep operators responsible for consequential decisions? Does it allow further automation as the time to react becomes shorter?

A platform built to evolve should deliver measurable value at launch and support new functions through safe, incremental steps. Grid complexity will continue to grow. Utilities need a control foundation that can evolve with it—helping them command complexity and control power.

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