Tapping the Power of People
Gerry Yurkevicz is a Boston-based partner in Oliver Wyman’s Energy practice. Adam Smith is a San Francisco-based partner in Oliver Wyman’s Organizational Effectiveness practice. John Gracie is a Toronto-based principal in Oliver Wyman’s Energy practice.
Utilities face a double people challenge. Utilities need to improve both their customer experience and raise productivity. We examine how both can be achieved in tandem.
Getting this right changes everything. Tapping the power of people can underpin the next great phase of utility performance. To paraphrase one utility, focusing on people provides the pathway to serving the new energy customer, saving the planet, and generating prosperity for all.
The Nature of the Challenge
Transformation of the energy sector is well underway. De-carbonization drives a shift toward lower or zero-carbon energy generation. Renewables continue to grow in importance. Electrification drives the mobility sector.
Decentralization provides energy customers with increased availability and accessibility to distributed energy resources. Digitalization and the Internet of Things enable smart grids and give customers control over their energy choices and usage.
This market transformation creates significant opportunities but also challenges for utility strategies and operations. Utilities need to transform their business to address the attributes that customers, regulators, and stakeholders want from the future grid.