Delivering value in a zero-growth market.
Kelly P. Gallant, Timothy P. Porter, and Jack Azagury are managing directors with Accenture. Gallant leads the company’s utility industry group in North America; Porter leads the group’s North American strategy practice; and Azagury leads Accenture smart grid services. The authors acknowledge the contributions of Andre Begosso, Raymond Gogel, David M. Rouls, and Jan Vrins.
Energy trends move more slowly than most of us would like to admit but they are real and steady nonetheless … call it the “simmering platform.” As far back as 1985, Public Utilities Fortnightly published an article predicting the end of parity between growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and energy demand, where utilities would sell less of their core product and focus more on efficiency, along with other products and services. This became the genesis of the “negawatt,” a means to “control risk, improve cash flow, secure market share, save operating costs, and [help utilities] become once more a declining-cost industry.” (See "Saving Gigabucks with Negawatts," by Amory B. Lovins, Fortnightly, March 1985.)
It seems what’s old is new again in many respects, though our view of utilities’ future involves much more than simply driving down costs.