Leading Trends Affecting the Energy & Utilities Sector
The Energy and Utilities (E&U) industry has done a good job of aligning itself at an elevated level of technological maturity at the crossroads of a conventional past and a “smart” future. Multinationals in the E&U sector have transitioned to wiser facilities, engaged in alternative sources of energy, and reaped the benefits of digital technologies, business intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT), business to business marketing plays a significant role. Their emphasis has changed to include additional revenue references, and they have been actively trying to automate business processes in order to cut costs.
In such a fiercely competitive world, the very next stage of industry transformation will seek to enhance customer experience while lowering operational expenses. Let’s take a look at some of the dynamics that this sector will face.
Customer Interactions that are Personalized Will Increase:
The latest industry news or predictions indicate that non-utility industries will digitally interrupt the scenery and take 20% of the energy retail business by 2020.
Energy and utility companies will work to create improved online and offline channel customer experiences as a result of liberalization and competitive pressures from energy retailers’ goods and services. In the sectors such as genuine payment processing and mobile payments, digital experiences, energy conservation audits, and domestic energy management, the understanding will increase consumer-utility relationships.
With the advent of electronic grids and monitoring devices, energy providers will begin to respond to customers’ requirements for additional options in how they use their energy.
The integration of operational and back-office systems will change how customers interact with companies through payments and communications.
Social media will be crucial for customer service, assertive communication, and warnings before danger strikes. A wealth of data about the customer will be available from incorporated customer service management solutions, allowing for the provision of customized services.
Operations will be Rewired by Digitalization
In order to relate with tech-savvy customers, E&U industries will progressively utilize social media, mobile services and payments, big data analytics, digital marketing, IoT, and smart meter execution. All measurements and analytics will be based on information from smart meters.
A sizable portion of the IT portfolios of E&U companies will consist of cloud services. Operations and maintenance of equipment and network infrastructural facilities will be governed by data analytics. Sensors will gather data to track asset efficiency more and more, enabling insight and perspective actions to boost stability and performance while lowering cost of maintenance and leisure time. By moving IT infrastructure to the public cloud, utilities will reduce their IT costs.
Operations involving utilities’ customers will be heavily reliant on intelligent functions. The digital ecosystem will be made up of smarter equipment and business process management systems to provide excellent customer experiences and process efficiency. In depth insights on asset management will be made possible by machine learning, which will drive mechanization and smart analytics across enormous volumes of data gathered from digitized resources.
The areas of energy storage, micro grids, and smart power stations as retail utility offerings will also be driven by technological innovations as per latest industry news. Energy, security, and entertainment offerings will be incorporated through power implementations referred to as “gateway hubs.”
Consumer Demand Will Fuel the Sharing Economy
Customers who build or customize goods to their specifications will implement a completely interruptive and asset-light business strategy, illustrating the automation of the E&U sector.
They will not only have more knowledge about how to use energy, but they will also begin producing and storing energy. The energy prosumer will cause a significant change in the production, allocation, usage, and storage of energy, resulting in the ability to share power supply.
Prosumers and E&U organizations will both benefit from the ability to participate in the “smart grid” and evolving power management techniques. Business organizations will increasingly establish separate subsidiary companies in order to solidify and maintain control over their own DERs. Apple Energy, for example, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple Corporation that ensures the supply of electricity to Apple facilities. They also transport excess energy to the wholesale energy market.
Field Operations in the Digital Era
Through mobile phones and tablets, support teams will have proper access to location information, asset-specific requirements and productivity data, work procedures, and safety regulations. For maximum effectiveness, wearables and heads-up displays will enable them to be more aware at all times. Pipelines and power lines will be examined using drones. Platforms for entrepreneurship software will incorporate drone data to produce automated work. As a result, there will be fewer grid outages and quicker responses.
An always-on and real-time synchronization of ground operational activities with back-office data will be made possible by automated systems and business intelligence. Teams of employees with access to digital tools will complete various tasks while on the go in order to boost productivity and improve wealth management efficiency. Automated systems and business intelligence will enable continuous and actual synchronization of ground operating processes with back-office data. Employees who have access to digital technologies will work together to accomplish various tasks while on the go in order to enhance productive capacity and strengthen wealth management effectiveness.
Security for the Grid will be a priority
The development of smart grids in business and management is accompanied by an increase in the digital surface area and a greater susceptibility to cyber threats. Utilities’ operational and strategic security will thus become critical at the corporate level. Enterprise-wide risk management schemes will gradually fall under the categories of adherence, IT, cyber security, and physical security.
E&U industries will also share cybersecurity intelligence with outside partners in order to better identify and mitigate risks. Stricter regulatory methodologies, cyber security guidelines, and increased, ongoing surveillance will be implemented.
Business Models Will Modify to Reflect New Market Facts
According to the latest market news, the market for renewables is predicted to grow over the next few years, so E&U companies will think about diversifying into renewables as a way to both professionalize and ahead their business and revenue growth.
The product framework in business will gradually be replaced by advanced pricing schemes for cutting-edge energy production sources, power storage and tracking, and data analytics. These will be accomplished through partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and procurements. The asset-light business models that depend on the volume of goods and services sold to generate sales and profits will also be investigated.
