Utilities should think hard about business models.
Greg Bolino is a managing director in Accenture’s Strategy practice and the digital lead for its utilities industry group.
Accelerating growth of new energy technologies is already having a profound impact on energy demand and on the utilities industry. Over the next decade, this trend, driven by policies, technology innovation, rising electricity prices, shifting consumer behavior and other macroeconomic factors, will force a transformation of utility business models.
There already are numerous popular reports of a looming utilities "death spiral" - of customers migrating off the grid or using the grid only as a backup, forcing utilities to increase rates for their remaining customers, thereby pushing more customers off the grid, creating a vicious cycle.
To determine the likelihood of this scenario and to assess the impact and the extent of the disruption to the utilities industry in the coming years, Accenture conducted extensive research and modelled several potential scenarios.