What would a startup utility company look
like?
Its operations would be lean, leveraging the
latest in digital technologies to generate,
distribute and resell energy.
Customer experience capabilities would be
off-the-charts, providing a full range of
self-service capabilities that included the
ability to choose from a variety of energy
options and rate plans.
Business leaders, leveraging analytics, would
be able to anticipate opportunities for new
service offerings and easily launch them into
the market capturing new revenue streams.
Executive leadership using these same tools
could launch business initiatives such as
energy trading and wholesaling, seamlessly
and securely integrating power from micro-grids
and other DERs...and while the startup utility
is starting to emerge the market continues
to be defined and led by traditional providers…Whose
operations were designed to support entirely
different business models?
How can they change to keep pace with nontraditional
competitors while maintaining – and enhancing
– brand value?
To stay in the lead and maintain customer
loyalty, utilities must rethink their business
strategies, reimagine their supporting business
processes and automate their operating models,
with their customers as their focal point.
How can a 100-year-old Utility do this?
Start by building a digital strategy that
modernizes core operations with a focus on
data modernization, process reengineering
and replacing legacy infrastructure.
Process-reengineering is low-hanging “digital
fruit” that’s relatively low-risk, requires
little upfront investment and is an important
step in unlocking customer data; realize the
value of data by investing in architecture,
automation and analytics that maximizes investments
in code.
This paves the way for the use of robotics,
drones and predictive models - reinvent the
workforce – successful digital transformation
begins and ends with people.
Knowledgebase systems are a key element to
retaining and institutionalizing the best
practices that all too frequently go undocumented
and leave with older employees as they retire.
Industry research shows that creating an innovative
culture, augmenting workers, and workforce
transformation are the top revenue drivers
along with digital strategy - focus on customers
– align operations with customer demand,
invest in a human-centric design that provides
customers with the personalized experience
they expect.
By zeroing in on digital transformation with
customer relationships top of mind utilities
can boost revenue by 8%, with a net benefit
of about
2.7% after costs.
