and flexibility, utilities, regulators, and customers themselves will have to decide which investments to make—and who should pay for them. Stakeholders in the electricity-utility industry face challenges that have been building for years. As electricity supply and demand evolve, they must rethink the fundamentals of cost
As the utility industry steps into 2025, it finds itself facing both familiar priorities and new challenges. These come against the backdrop of a new presidential administration and shifting energy landscapes. Central areas of focus include addressing load growth and transmission infrastructure needs, ensuring safety and reliability, maintaining affordability, and integrating artificial ...
Utilities face rising demand and high costs, but opportunity lies in modernizing infrastructure and using renewable energy and technology. ... Some utilities are flush with cash, while others face significant balance sheet issues. Further, compared with other industries, the P&U sector is much more fragmented, partially because of its unique ...
In 2022, rising commodity prices combined with inflation, brought an increase in average U.S. customer bills by a staggering 13% on a nominal basis and 5% on an inflation-adjusted (real) basis (see chart 2). These rising costs continue to pressure the customer bill and hamper the industry's ability to effectively manage regulatory risk. As the customer bill rises, regulators may issue somewhat ...
Cost concerns could blunt ‘promising’ utility trends on energy storage, smart meters, EVs: Deloitte ... “Our utility industry is ready for this moment. ... despite rising costs. Utility ...
Here, we examine the factors driving disruption and issues utility executives should address now. We close with questions that those executives will need to answer for their full set of stakeholders. Factors forcing change. A host of factors is converging to transform an energy sector that has changed little for the better part of 100 years ...
Other operations and maintenance (O&M) costs: The US utility industry spends an average of US$14.6 billion on distribution system O&M annually. 71 Identifying additional O&M savings could help provide headroom to increase capital spending without raising rates. But many costs rose recently due to factors ranging from supply chain constraints to ...
A study by Lazard purports that the cost of utility-scale solar power generation has fallen from $359/MWh in 2009 to ... its existence provides substantial buffer against grid instability problems posed by extreme weather events and the inherent intermittency of alternative sources. ... Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry Section 39.904 ...
Here are seven critical risks facing the utilities industry. 1) Distributed Generation ... Advances in distributed generation technologies may reduce the cost of alternative power, making it more attractive to consumers and lower demand for power produced at central power stations. ... Investor-owned utilities have serious concerns about the ...
The cost of providing water services is increasing, placing greater financial burdens on individual households and utilities. Five metrics were calculated at multiple volumes of water usage and were applied to 1791 utilities, estimating bills from 2020 rates data, to gauge financial burdens in four states.
In the utility space, a plethora of variables are driving the need to reimagine cost management – and in many cases, an urgent need for immediate cost cutting efforts. Inflation (and associated sky rocketing interest rates), high fuel costs (a double whammy for utilities that depend on fuel to operate their fleet and to power the electric ...
The economic outlook for utilities is tightening in developed markets as energy consumption levels off and competition from distributed generation rises. At the same time, their need to update aging infrastructure is growing. To make the numbers work, they will need to cut costs. Here are four areas where utility executives can make long-term cost-savings work.
Summer 2021 wasn’t as hot, had more days with rain, and didn’t trigger the same concern in Arizona. But the three major Arizona utilities all forecast the peak demand in summer 2022 to top 2020. Gas plant rejected. Arizona utility regulators recently rejected a more than 800-megawatt expansion at SRP’s Coolidge gas plant.
Cost increases from higher peak demand: Several utilities expressed concern that unmanaged EV charging loads during peak periods could significantly increase their power supply and infrastructure ...
Democratic lawmakers are pushing to limit utility profits as they seek to address voter affordability concerns and fend off criticism over the costs of clean energy policies.
