The utility business environment
is unique, complex
and not for the faint of heart.
Utilities are historically sensitive
to market pressures, regulatory
constraints and many other factors
outside their control. The
often-repeated chorus about the
changing business environment
includes aging infrastructure,
rising environmental compliance
costs, flat or declining
load, changes in customer expectations,
competition from
distributed energy resources
(DER) and declining returns
on equity approved by regulators.
The year 2020 was also full
of natural disasters — wildfires,
hurricanes and a global pandemic.
There were some significant
man-made challenges as
well, with respect to geopolitical
forces, cybersecurity, supply
chain, reliability and a presidential election.
T&D World surveyed its utility audience to dig deeper into
this unprecedented business environment, and identify trends
and market influences impacting utilities. The results of this
Utility Market Transformation Report are provided here.
It is perhaps unsurprising that 30% of utility employees reported
feeling more market or business uncertainty in their role, more so now than ever. Changing technologies, workforce
challenges, energy markets and the utility business model itself
were cited as the top drivers of this uncertainty. Additionally,
36% of respondents reported a change in their utility’s long-term
business plan because of this uncertainty.
Download the 2020 Utility Market Transformation Report...
