Electric utilities must build and operate more generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure—faster, more reliably, and under greater public scrutiny. Data centers, electrification, advanced manufacturing, and reshoring are driving demand, while utilities also face aging assets, severe weather, workforce constraints, customer expectations, and complex regulation.

The challenge is not simply building more infrastructure. It is building the operational capacity to manage it.

The Capacity Constraint Is Operational, Not Just Physical

Grid expansion often focuses on substations, transformers, conductors, generation, storage, and interconnections. All matter. But physical investment alone does not create a scalable operating model.

Every new asset brings more inspections, work orders, condition data, vegetation risk, customer interactions, compliance evidence, and field decisions. Every storm tests whether the organization can see what is happening, prioritize accurately, dispatch effectively, and close work with confidence. Delayed handoffs, duplicate truck rolls, incomplete work orders, and unclear asset records compound the challenge.

Core platforms such as SAP, Maximo, Oracle, ArcGIS, OMS, ADMS, and mobile workforce systems remain essential systems of record. They carry transactions, controls, and history. But many were built for recordkeeping and stable workflows—not real-time field orchestration.

They do not replace the judgment of a crew leader beside damaged infrastructure, reconcile field reality with system data in real time, or turn completed work into faster learning. Operational AI can.

Operational AI Is Not Another Dashboard

Utilities have reason to be skeptical of AI conversations centered on chat interfaces, pilots, and distant promises. Operations runs on safely completed work, rapidly restored assets, prepared crews, satisfied regulators, and informed customers.

Operational AI applies AI to the work itself: planning, prioritizing, dispatching, executing, documenting, validating, and improving field operations. It works alongside existing data and systems while respecting governance, security requirements, business rules, and operating policies.

The goal is not to replace core platforms. It is to make them more operationally effective. Traditional enterprise software is optimized for structured processes; Operational AI is optimized for urgent, changing conditions where decisions must happen in minutes.

AI Is a Security Concern—Unless It Is an Operational Discipline

Utility leaders are right to be wary of uncontrolled AI. Ungoverned tools can expose sensitive data, produce inaccurate recommendations, obscure decisions, and create operational risk. In critical infrastructure, “move fast and break things” is irresponsible.

But the answer is not to ban AI or leave it to shadow experimentation. It is to deploy AI as an operational discipline.

Operational AI should use only the governed, cross-platform data required for a defined outcome: restoring service faster, prioritizing high-risk assets, reducing unnecessary truck rolls, improving work-package quality, or directing the right crew to the right job. Not every source must connect, every decision must be automated, or every user must see every signal.

A disciplined approach works within existing data fabrics, identity controls, governance policies, approved rules, and systems of record. It supports role-based access, traceability, human review, and auditable workflows.

The Scoreboard Matters

The question is not whether AI is interesting. It is whether it improves operational performance.

Utilities should establish a baseline and track truck rolls per completed work order; first-time completion; outage-to-dispatch, arrival, restoration, and closeout times; mean time to repair; outage duration; SAIDI, SAIFI, and CAIDI where applicable; crew utilization; rework; backlog age; inspection coverage; customer-update accuracy; and O&M cost.

These are not vanity metrics. Fewer truck rolls reduce cost, fleet wear, emissions, and crew exposure. Better work packages reduce repeat visits. Smarter dispatch can shorten outages. Accurate field capture improves asset records and future maintenance and capital decisions.

Reliability Must Be Built Into the Daily Work

Storms, wildfires, flooding, heat, cyber risk, supply constraints, and aging equipment are creating a more volatile environment. Utilities need to prioritize work based on safety, customer impact, critical facilities, asset condition, crew capability, location, materials availability, and changing field conditions.

Operational AI supports that response without sacrificing control. It does not replace policy; it operationalizes policy. Human accountability remains central, especially for high-consequence decisions.

A New Operating Model—Starting Now

Utilities can begin with a high-volume, high-friction workflow: storm damage assessment, pole inspections, vegetation management, corrective maintenance, service restoration, make-ready work, or work-order closeout. Connect relevant governed data, preserve systems of record, define approved rules, establish baseline metrics, measure results, and scale what works.

This is not a strategy for replacing skilled people. It makes crews, dispatchers, planners, supervisors, and asset managers more effective.

The grid will not meet tomorrow’s demand through more software complexity. It will meet it through better operations: measurable, secure, responsible, and scalable.

Affordability is one of the most pressing challenges facing utilities. But the conversation often starts at the end—with rates, regulatory filings, and customer costs. By then, those costs have already been shaped by decisions made much earlier: How work was prioritized, how crews were deployed, and how effectively operations stayed aligned and adapted as conditions changed.

Every work request creates choices about scope, crews, materials, and follow-through. When those processes rely on disconnected systems, such as paper or spreadsheets, increased costs are inevitable. Crews wait idly for assignments. Jobs require repeat visits because information was incomplete. Back-office teams spend time reconciling records instead of managing work. Contractors create parallel streams of information that make it harder to validate and pay invoices.

Across thousands of work activities, these moments increase expenses with no measurable benefit. Viewing operations through an affordability lens is about asking a simple question: Are we delivering the work customers expect, at the required level of safety, reliability, and service, at the lowest responsible total cost?

Reporting can offer some of those answers, but a complete picture requires a current, shared view of people, work, resources, and priorities. With that operating picture, the right crew can be matched to the right work, information can move faster, and resources can be adjusted as conditions change.

The need for efficiency is amplified during emergency restoration. U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of interruptions in 2024, with major events accounting for 80 percent of those hours. During restoration, decisions are compressed into minutes and mutual aid adds another layer of coordination. Current, connected information becomes critical to keeping people, work, and priorities aligned. Disconnected information creates friction when there is the least tolerance for it.

The key to affordable operations lies in that single, shared, real-time picture of operations in the field, a “control tower” platform for utilities that brings people, work, and data into a shared operating view, helping leaders coordinate work and make decisions with greater confidence.

Utilities cannot control every affordability pressure. They can control how efficiently they turn people, resources, information, and time into customer outcomes. That makes affordability more than a discussion about what customers must pay. It makes affordability an operating discipline.

Read our white paper on the deep connections between affordable power and operational efficiency.

Extreme weather events and increasing end customer and regulatory demand for higher reliability have pushed grid resilience and selfhealing networks into the spotlight.

Circuits that effectively restore themselves—automatically locating and isolating faults and reconfiguring power flow with minimal manual intervention—are critical for reducing outages and accelerating recovery.  

Evidence supports the value of self-healing schemes. What remains unresolved is how to quickly scale them, without adding complexity, to improve resilience.

The Necessity of Simplified Automation

Automated smart devices are the foundation of self-healing networks. Adding a few reclosers and switches is a logical step. For a truly resilient grid, devices must be deployed at scale, operating intelligently and in coordination.

Too often, however, deployments stall when automation is difficult to install, operate, or maintain. That reality is driving momentum toward simplified automation, an industry design direction gaining traction as utilities look to expand selfhealing networks more effectively. 

For S&C Electric Company, simplified automation means applying intelligence where it delivers the greatest impact for resilience and reliability, while also keeping technology intuitive, familiar, and practical for the people who work with it. This keeps automation easy to deploy and cost-effective.

Key Attributes Required 

Every storm triggers a cycle of react, repair, and rebuild. Rebuilding the same way perpetuates inefficiency. Strategic investment in proven technologies—automation, fault Automating lateral circuits is a leading example of simple automation creating high value. Up to 80 percent of overhead lateral faults are temporary. Electronic controlled reclosers can detect and clear these transient faults within seconds, preventing prolonged outages.

As automation moves closer to the grid edge, simplicity in device design becomes increasingly crucial. To scale lateral automation effectively, utilities need technology engineered to key principles to minimize outages, maintenance costs, and crew time:

• Ease of deployment: Reclosers should offer programmable curves for seamless coordination with existing protective devices—and commission without specialized engineering. Their objective is to enhance existing protection strategies—not force reinvention. Reclosers should fit easily into cutout mounts, preserving grid designs and familiar crew installation practices.
• Operational efficiency: Self-powered reclosers lm`o[q` autonomously, without reliance on secondary power from transformers or batteries. When manual operation is required, device designs need to support safe, efficient crew interactions—easy to pull open cutouts for fault isolation, clear operational labels and status indicators, and a highly visible, physical gap when it drops open to isolate permanent faults. Equally important are safety features that help keep crews at a distance from medium voltage during operating sequences.
• Adaptive and interoperable communications: Lateral automation does not typically require communicating devices, as devices need to function even when communications are unavailable. When there is benefit to communications, such as adjusting recloser settings based on weather conditions, automation should be interoperable and support current and future communications through modular design.
• Modularity and future readiness: Reclosers with modular designs support more efficient operations and evolving workflow needs. Swappable hardware modules allow utilities to program multiple units, retrieve device data, upgrade software, or expand communications without taking the device out of service. That flexibility streamlines how utilities upgrade and adopt new capabilities to avoid disruption and cost.

Simplified automation gives utilities an advantage. By scaling solutions designed for real-world operations, utilities can set the reliability benchmark and advance a more resilient grid.

To meet the needs of the electric power industry, solar is entering a new era of reliability, both in terms of power plant performance and the partnerships behind them.

The traditional model—building solar plants from loosely coordinated components and vendors—is increasingly being replaced by an integrated solar power plant model. Integrated systems align trackers, foundations, electrical infrastructure, and controls from a single provider during early-stage development.

This evolution reflects more than engineering progress. It also signals a change in how projects are delivered. Interfacing with a single platform partner that can handle design, manufacturing, and execution reduces complexity and increases accountability over the life of the asset.

The partnership begins at the supply chain.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, 134 new solar and storage manufacturing facilities are now online, with 44 facilities under active construction across 43 states.

A key link in this U.S.-based supply chain is steel manufacturing. Domestic production and regional fabrication strengthen supply chain resilience, reduce logistics risk, and improve delivery certainty. With platform providers that offer manufacturing scale across multiple regions, solar investment also supports local economic development—a core mission of electric utilities.

Integrated systems streamline execution and lower LCOE.

Designing structural and electrical systems with one platform partner has both upfront and long-term advantages. For developers, it simplifies the engineering phase and results in a fully optimized site plan and system design. For EPC partners, this means a smoother build process—and a system with fewer components—that is more likely to stay on schedule and under budget.

For utilities, a fully integrated plant reduces risk and total project costs while simplifying O&M, resulting in a lower levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

Digital tools enhance project management and operations.

The integrated solar plant model also enables new ways to coordinate, visualize, and manage projects. A single software platform can support site design, predictive analytics, component tracking, real-time construction visibility, and a fleet-wide view of assets to reduce field work, increase generation, and lower project risk.

Advanced control systems are also helping mitigate risks from hail, wind, and extreme weather. High-resolution camera systems detect smoke and fire risks while enhancing site security. Automated inspection technology provides consistent quality assurance and reduces operational variability.

Together, this delivers solar as utility-scale infrastructure.

As utilities face unprecedented load growth, a more mature U.S. solar industry is rising to support the development of reliable, long-term power plants at scale. Solar has evolved into a grid asset built by American industry—designed as an integrated system and engineered to deliver lower lifecycle cost and more predictable performance from day one through the life of the asset

What often drops out of that conversation is a simple question: Once the site is online, how do you keep it that way for the full design life? In an era of strained supply chains, “run to failure” is no longer a safe strategy for critical equipment. During COVID-19, global manufacturing and logistics disruptions hit many core grid components, and six years later availability still has not fully recovered.

Transformers sit near the top of that risk list. Large power transformers that once took roughly a year and a half to procure can now require as long as seven years from order to delivery. Medium- and low-voltage units have followed the same trend, with lead times stretching from under a year to multiple years. When a key transformer fails, you may not be able to replace it within the current planning horizon. That reality changes the economics of reliability. 

Fortunately, you have practical tools to extend transformer life and reduce unexpected outages. The most important is dissolved gas analysis (DGA), which measures specific gases in transformer oil to reveal emerging problems. Think of DGA as a routine blood test for your transformer fleet. Just as a doctor watches changes in cholesterol or enzyme levels over time, operators can track gas trends to spot overheating, arcing, or insulation breakdown before they lead to failure.

Utilities have relied on DGA for decades as a cornerstone of transformer health monitoring, combining online sensors, periodic laboratory testing, and clear maintenance actions. For data center operators, adopting these established utility practices is part of becoming a good grid citizen, protecting your own uptime while supporting overall system reliability.

In a world of long lead times and rising expectations, using proven tools like DGA brings you one step closer to the reliability your customers now expect.

Funding has been allocated to support a variety of assistance programs, from direct bill subsidies like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and arrearage management plans to weatherization rebates and time-of-use rate restructuring. But, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, only 13 percent of low-income households are on the receiving end of support.

Closing the gap between aid eligibility and actual enrollment means prioritizing technology that enables electric companies to identify and engage all income-qualified customers. By leveraging AI-driven analytics, electric companies can move beyond broad census data, transforming consumption patterns and appliance usage into clear indicators of energy vulnerability across an entire customer base.

Specifically, AI decodes the unique “fingerprint” of every home, allowing electric companies to not only detect customers with high energy burdens at the individual household level but also accurately match customers with relevant programs and messaging.

Identify Inefficient Applications

Aging heating and cooling systems and failing water heaters are the two biggest drivers of energy burden, making these homes ideal for targeted equipment replacement and electrification subsidies.

Distinguish Between Structural Inefficiencies and Behavioral Spikes

Homes with poor insulation are best served by weatherization upgrades, whereas homes with dramatic spikes are prime candidates for demand response programs.

Streamline Enrollment Via Behavioral Proxies

Because specific consumption signatures correlate with socioeconomic need, electric companies can auto-enroll customers in assistance programs and remove the administrative paperwork that often prevents households from receiving aid.

Identifying an income-qualified household is only half the battle; the other half is earning the trust required to help them. AI enables a shift from mass marketing to personalized coaching, so that rather than sending generic energy-saving tips that feel out of touch with a struggling family’s reality, electric companies can provide specific, timely insights.

For example, a notification shouldn’t just say “save energy,” it should alert a customer that their HVAC unit is underperforming and provide a direct path to a pre-qualified repair grant.

Layering generative AI (GenAI) onto these data insights, electric companies can even tailor the timing, language, channel, and tone of individual customer outreach to ensure assistance offers arrive exactly when they are most relevant—such as immediately following a high-usage weather event. Because when communication is rooted in a customer’s actual consumption reality, the likelihood of both participation and program
success increases.

The whitepaper, “Exceeding Affordability Goals With UtilityAI: Leveraging AI and Behind-the-Meter Data to Better Serve Income-Qualified Customers,” details how these data-driven strategies enable precise, high-impact support for those who need it most.

A street crew excavates a newly paved road, unaware that a subsurface repair was already scheduled. Two departments, two systems, one avoidable public failure.

This scenario is a predictable, and preventable, result of fragmented operations. The average utility or municipality runs 15-20 disconnected platforms, predating cloud computing, mobile-native tools, and AI-assisted planning entirely.

For every dollar spent on labor, utilities recover just 70-78 cents—lost to switching between systems, reconciling data, and re-entering information. Most enterprise platforms were retrofitted for mobile, not built for it—and when backoffice and field systems run separately, something always gets left behind: asset histories, digital forms, work order updates. Crews revert to paper, which doesn't feed back into the asset management system. Maintenance patterns stay invisible, repeat failures go unnoticed, and predictive intelligence never materializes.

The operational impact is organization-wide: Dispatchers schedule from outdated information, customer service teams can't provide accurate restoration times, and follow-up work orders are lost between systems. One utility customer described what good looks like simply: "a single face of work, any work, regardless of type." That means every role, work type, and asset operating from one live shared source of truth. For most organizations today, that remains out of reach.

These inefficiencies are no longer viable. Infrastructure demand is surging, a third of the workforce is retirement-eligible this year, and over 1,350 gigawatts of energy resources await grid interconnection. This complexity cannot be managed in silos.

The path forward isn't a rip-and-replace. Most platforms synchronize separate databases—deciding what to transfer, when, and what to leave out. That friction compounds. A true single shared database means when a technician updates a work order, every stakeholder sees it instantly. No lag, data transfer decisions, or delay between the field and back office. Organizations making this shift are seeing measurable results:

• 20-30 percent of workforce capacity lost to system switching, manual reconciliation, and rework.
• Critical delays in emergencies when accessing maps, asset history, and customer impact data.
• Inconsistent customer communication and limited visibility into neighborhood work.
• Budget drain from legacy systems that constrain innovation and demand-scarce IT resources.

But the most significant change isn't technical—it's organizational. The question shifts from ӓWhich system should we buy?Ӕ to ӓWhy is work breaking down today?Ӕ Utilities that start there eliminate technical debt, redesign workflows, and build the data foundation AI and predictive intelligence require. That's the Single Face of Work®. KloudGin is the only vendor IDC named a Leader in both Utilities EAM and FSM.

Learn more.

When utilities evaluate strategies to improve system reliability, the conversation is often framed as a binary choice: upgrade existing overhead infrastructure or convert to underground. Undergrounding can reduce exposure to external fault sources, but it often comes with substantial costs, extended construction timelines, and permitting challenges—particularly in developed or environmentally sensitive areas.

Traditional overhead systems, while cost-effective and accessible, remain inherently unreliable. Bare wire relies on air as the primary insulation medium, making it susceptible to vegetation, wildlife, and wind-driven contact. These exposures are among the leading causes of both momentary and sustained outages.

As utilities balance reliability, cost, and constructability, a third option continues to gain traction: aerial spacer cable (ACS). Hendrix by Marmon Utility invented Aerial Spacer Cable Systems 75 years ago and continues to be the go-to reliability leader for this solution.

Bridging the Gap

Spacer cable replaces much of the air insulation used in conventional overhead construction with a durable dielectric covering on each phase conductor. Conductors are arranged in a compact, triangular configuration, supported by a highstrength messenger and separated by HDPE spacers.

The result is a system that retains the accessibility and cost advantages of overhead construction while significantly reducing exposure to common outage drivers.

Utilities deploying spacer cable report meaningful reliability improvements. Unlike bare wire systems, spacer cable can tolerate incidental vegetation contact without initiating a fault. Brief interactions—such as wind-blown branches—typically do not result in outages, fundamentally changing circuit behavior in challenging environments.

Rethinking Vegetation Management

Vegetation management remains one of the largest ongoing expenses for overhead systems. Traditional approaches rely on aggressive clearance cycles every three to five years.

These programs are increasingly challenged by budgets, limited rights-of-way, permitting restrictions, and landowner push-back. Spacer cable enables a shift from clearance-based maintenance to contact-tolerant design. While sustained contact should still be avoided, incidental interaction and overhang can be tolerated without compromising reliability.

This shift can lead to:

• Reduced trimming frequency
• Lower long-term costs
• Improved performance in constrained corridors
• Improved environmental preservation

Spacer cable changes the equation—from avoiding contact at all costs to designing a system that can tolerate it.

Engineered System Performance

The messenger wire is at the core of the system, serving as both structural and electrical backbone. It supports conductors and spacers, acts as the system neutral, and can provide shielding when properly grounded.

Covered conductors are designed for high impulse strength, UV resistance, and low partial discharge. These characteristics support strong system reliability under environmental stress. The compact configuration also reduces phase spacing and overall footprint, making it well-suited for urban, suburban, and environmentally sensitive areas.

• 75–90 percent reduction in sustained tree-related outages.
• Near elimination of momentary faults.
• Up to 70–75 percent of project cost tied to labor & equipment—not materials.
• 30–50 year lifecycle where O&M savings materially impact total cost.

Looking Beyond Material Cost

While material cost is often the focus, labor and equipment frequently account for the majority of total installed cost. Installation efficiency and accessibility have greater financial impact than conductor price alone.

Spacer cable systems can improve overall project costs through faster installation, reduced clearing, lower vegetation management, and fewer outage-related expenses. When evaluated over a multi-decade lifecycle, these factors can materially shift total cost of ownership.

Utilities working with established system providers—such as Hendrix—benefit from standardized design and proven installation practices that improve consistency, reduce rework, and optimize field productivity.

Installation Considerations

Long-term performance depends on proper design and installation. Spacer cable requires a different construction approach than traditional bare wire, with attention to system configuration, grounding, and mechanical loading.

Utilities can reduce implementation risk by working with experienced partners who provide engineering guidance, installation support, and crew training. Providers such as Hendrix support projects from design through construction and ongoing operations—helping ensure consistent, reliable field performance.

A Practical Path Forward

As utilities face increasing pressure to improve reliability while managing cost and complexity, the limits of a strict “overhead vs. underground” approach are becoming clear. Aerial Spacer Cable Systems is a viable third category option—combining the resilience benefits of underground with the accessibility and cost advantages of overhead.

With over seven decades of proven performance and continӣ ued refinement, Hendrix’s aerial spacer cable is the strategic solution for utilities looking to harden their systems without the barriers associated with full underground conversion. For many applications, it is not simply an alternative—it is a more balanced approach to building a resilient, cost-effective distribution grid.

Data center growth and AI headlines dominate today’s energy conversation, but reliability impacts everyone—from families and hospitals to businesses fueling the economy. When power goes out, productivity stalls and costs soar. Behind that invisible current lies a grid under pressure, and the most vulnerable segment is often overlooked: the “last mile.”

Distribution Is Where Resilience Matters 

Power distribution—lines, switches, reclosers, fuses, and transformers—delivers electricity into communities. About 90 percent of outages occur here, and 80 percent are temporary, caused by tree limbs, wildlife, or weather. Intelligent devices that automate and “self-heal” the grid resolve disruptions in seconds—often before customers notice. 

The Cost of React and Rebuild 

Every storm triggers a cycle of react, repair, and rebuild. Rebuilding the same way perpetuates inefficiency. Strategic investment in proven technologies—automation, fault isolation, undergrounding, and wildfire mitigation—breaks this cycle, lowers restoration costs, and strengthens reliability. 

The Economic Case 

Interruptions aren’t just inconvenient—they’re costly. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports outages cost American businesses $150 billion annually, with weather-related outages accounting for $20 billion–$55 billion. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, every dollar invested in resilience saves $13 in recovery costs.

Florida offers proof. During hurricanes Milton, Helene, and Debby in 2024, previous investments in grid-hardening technologies and intelligent devices prevented 824,000 outages—avoiding an estimated $2 billion–$10 billion in economic losses based on DOE/EPRI benchmarks. Those avoided outages kept businesses open and communities connected.

Powering the Future 

Building resilience means addressing everyday challenges: extreme weather, scale, and complexity. Proven technologies are ready now to deliver reliability and resiliency across diverse geographies. The choice isn’t between affordability and reliability—it’s between reacting after the storm or investing before it. Every dollar spent strategically today saves time, money, and lives tomorrow. 

The road to our energy future doesn’t stop at generation and transmission—it runs through distribution. This is where every new megawatt empowers people, businesses, and communities. A resilient distribution grid doesn’t just keep the lights on—it keeps the economy on.

Electric company leaders are recognizing the only sustainable approach is to drive efficiency, extract value, and re-invest in existing investments. Thankfully, tools like software and Al present solutions to meet these needs.

The Power of Layered Technology 

The secret to maximizing Al's value for electricity companies lies in combining two types of technology: 

• Horizontal Al
  • This is the broad, general-purpose technology, like global cloud services, big data platforms, and large language models from Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Amazon, that provides foundational processing power and tools used across all industries.
• Vertical Al
  • These are highly specialized models built for specific industries. In the energy industry, this includes machine learning algorithms with expert knowledge on smart meter usage patterns to identify appliance and DER signatures, derive relevant consumer insights, and predict risks like wildfires or transformer failures. 

By combining the strength of the general platforms with the specialized knowledge of vertical models, electric companies can enable industry-specific use cases that unlock grid flexibility, support distribution planning, and manage costs for customers through optimized rate design. 

Achieving Real Returns from Al Investments 

Successful Al initiatives start by defining a clear business goal, not by chasing a new technology. For example, to improve grid stability, grid planners need to know more than just total energy use. They need granular data that identifies the driving factors behind changes in load shape.

When Al is able to identify five EVs charging simultaneously on the same feeder, at the same time summertime air conditioning use spikes, grid planners can now target customers in these neighborhoods for incentivized load shifting programs.

Achieving measurable, scalable goals that clearly impact load, consumers, and the grid will drive wider adoption of new technology and create a virtuous cycle where efficiency lowers costs, maintains affordable rates, and generates public support. 

Deploying Al Safely in the Energy Industry 

To scale responsibly, innovation cannot be a "black box" that operates in isolation. With large electric companies often hesitant to send sensitive customer data, like AMI information, outside their secure environment, the solution is to deploy the advanced vertical Al models directly inside the electric company's own environment.

This strategy achieves two things:

• Security And Flexibility: Data remains secure and ensures the specialized tools work seamlessly with the electric company's existing investments in general platforms. 
• Empowerment: Specialized models turn into an essential data asset that the electric company's own data scientists and engineers can use. This empowers them to quickly build new applications, rather than relying on an external vendor for every single use case.

Bridging the gap between broad digital infrastructure and energy-specific intelligence allows electric companies to maximize their existing data ecosystems, turning years of accumulated AMI data into a high-yield strategic asset.

Given the complexity and rapid evolution of AI, the Scaling AI in the Energy Industry episode of the Electric Perspectives podcast, featuring Arizona Public Service's (APS's) Michelle Ferrara, offers a deeper exploration into how APS is building an AI ecosystem to strategically support their technology investments. Learn more at bidgely.com/utilityai-pro.

Electric utilities face intensifying pressures from aging infrastructure, rising citizen expectations, expanding regulatory requirements, and geographically distributed assets that require constant attention. Yet most operate with legacy systems—ERP, CIS, GIS, SCADA/ADMS, and more—that were never designed to communicate with each other. The result: constrained workforce capacity, delayed emergency response, elevated operational risk, and eroding public confidence.

The challenge stems from the sheer complexity of distributed operations. A single utility manages hundreds of miles of transmission and distribution infrastructure, dozens of substations and facilities, and thousands of service connections. Field crews execute emergency repairs, routine maintenance, inspections, and customer requests—often juggling different systems for each activity. Engineering, operations, and customer service departments all maintain separate processes, creating visibility gaps precisely when coordination matters most.

The impact is measurable:

●      20-30 percent of workforce capacity lost to system switching, manual reconciliation, and rework

●      Critical delays in emergencies when accessing maps, asset history, and customer impact data

●      Inconsistent customer communication and limited visibility into neighborhood work

The path forward requires extending—not replacing—the value of existing enterprise investments. Modern utilities achieve this through a unified work management approach that connects all work types, workgroups, assets, and departments while preserving existing ERP, CIS, and GIS investments. Cloud-native platforms with embedded Esri GIS integration and pre-built adapters for systems like SAP unify data, processes, and people into one operational ecosystem—without disrupting existing workflows.

Field crews, dispatchers, and planners work from a shared real-time map and a single source of truth, improving safety, accelerating response, and ensuring asset data stays current across every connected system. True two-way GIS intelligence and AI-powered automation enable utilities to move beyond isolated tools toward an extensible platform where every system works better together.

Leading utilities running these unified platforms typically achieve:

●      20-25 percent workforce productivity gains

●      26 percent faster resolution times

●      Over 90 percent customer satisfaction

●      Lower service costs and improved regulatory reporting

●      Future-proof foundation for grid modernization and new regulatory demands

Fragmented systems and processes are no longer sustainable for electric utilities and public sector organizations. Read the full white paper to learn how unified operations enable operational excellence for utilities building resilient infrastructure for the future.

Meet the KloudGin team at Distributech 2026 in San Diego, February 2-5.

After decades of relatively stable energy demand, forecasted load growth—driven primarily by data center development—is at its highest level in the past two decades. Across the United States, soaring demand is straining available capacity and inflating prices. Simultaneously, grid operators face a growing gap between their system’s installed nameplate capacity and the accredited capacity resources can deliver during the highest-risk hours. 

Rapid demand growth is colliding with the retirement of dispatchable resources and their replacement by predominantly intermittent renewables. A Goldman Sachs report infers that AI-driven growth could require another 47 gigawatts (GW) of power by 2031, the equivalent of California’s 2024 peak load. Meanwhile, NERC reports that 115 GW—comprised mostly of large, dispatchable resources—will retire by 2034, and 85 percent of the replacement megawatts will come from weather dependent resources.

In systems nationwide, the expanding gap between installed and accredited capacity highlights the need for resources like reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE) to deliver dependable, dispatchable capacity. This widening resource adequacy delta is not solely attributed to weather-dependent resources. In the Midcontinental Independent System Operator's (MISO's) latest Planning Resource Auction, poor availability of older coal and natural gas generation reduced system-wide accredited capacity by nearly 5 GW. Moreover, as high-demand events during the shoulder months become more common, planned maintenance removes critical thermal generation during the spring and fall.

As resource adequacy rules evolve to emphasize reliability, flexibly dispatchable resources like RICE are positioned to outperform turbine technologies. For example, Energy Information Administration data shows that across PJM, MISO, and the Southwest Power Pool, engine power plants consistently demonstrate strong rated capacity performance–averaging 12.5 percent better in summer and 2.75 percent better in winter than turbines.

RICE’s competitive edge is ascribed to its resilient technological attributes. When turbine output derates as ambient temperature rises, RICE’s output remains stable as temperatures climb above 100°F. Conversely, when cold temperatures strain natural gas availability, engines maintain reliability at 80 percent lower gas pressure than aeroderivative turbines. Additionally, when planned maintenance removes turbine plants from service, modular engine systems enable maintenance to be performed in rotation while continuing to supply megawatts to the grid. During unplanned outages, RICE’s modularity provides redundancy that reduces the likelihood of catastrophic, whole-plant outages.

Amid unprecedented load growth and rising costs, grid operators nationwide are implementing market reforms that incentivize resources with higher accreditation values. With resiliency-minded attributes and unmatched flexibility, Wärtsilä’s RICE systems should be a contender for any load-serving entity committed to reliability and long-term value.

Click here for more information.

Utilities and public sector organizations face converging challenges: aging infrastructure, intensifying weather, rising customer expectations, and an unprecedented generational workforce transition.

Yet, too many still rely on legacy Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) systems—platforms designed long before cloud, mobility, or AI. These aging systems have become operational liabilities, slowing response, draining budgets, and preventing innovation.

The costs are real and rising. Research shows companies using legacy EAM spend 34 percent more on customization and integration. Field workers lose up to 2.5 hours per day navigating outdated mobile tools, and emergency crews can face 45-minute delays simply accessing asset data when connectivity falters—time that directly impacts safety and reliability. And, when 80 percent of technology budgets are consumed just maintaining these systems, little remains to fund innovation in predictive maintenance, safety, or customer engagement.

Moving beyond legacy systems is no longer optional. The industry needs solutions designed for company realities: mobile-first, AI-native, and purpose-built for critical infrastructure. KloudGin delivers this through its unified Single Face of Work® platform, which integrates construction, asset, and field service management into one connected ecosystem. Unlike bolt-on mobility or patchwork integrations, KloudGin provides intuitive mobile experiences, robust offline capabilities, and embedded intelligence designed for the field workforce.

The results speak for themselves:

• 25-30 percent improvement in productivity.
• 45-60 percent faster emergency response.
• 35-40 percent lower system maintenance costs.
• 3x-5x faster innovation cycles.

Equally important is the workforce impact. Legacy systems were built for technical specialists, requiring months of training and high tolerance for clunky interfaces. KloudGin reduces new worker training time by 65 percent, while providing mobile tools that help companies recruit and retain the next generation of digital-native employees. As one executive shared, “When we show candidates our mobile-first platform during recruitment, it actually becomes an advantage in attracting talent.” Modernizing asset management isn’t just a technology upgrade—it’s a strategic shift. Those who continue pouring resources into yesterday’s systems will fall behind, locked in by integration costs and innovation bottlenecks. Forward-looking organizations embracing modern, unified platforms are not only improving efficiency and reliability today, they’re building the foundation for continuous innovation tomorrow. The situation is clear: the operational challenges facing energy companies and public sector organizations demand more than incremental improvements to legacy systems. They require purpose-built platforms designed specifically for today's mobile workforce, customer expectations, and operational demands.

Discover how companies are redefining operations and future-proofing their organizations: Read the full white paper.

There is no doubt the energy landscape is undergoing a transformation. With communities expecting faster, more reliable access to power, utilities face both challenges and new opportunities in how to best lead the way for the future.

You don’t need all the answers right now, but you can benefit from exploring viable options with the right team. Cat® Electric Power is here to support your journey with solutions that help you meet today’s demands while planning for tomorrow.

What's the Reality of Energy Challenges in the Near Future?

Today’s energy infrastructure is already struggling to meet demand, and predictions paint an even greater challenge ahead. As early as 2026, an estimated 800 terawatt-hours will be needed for data centers alone. The International Energy Agency projects that, by 2040, overall U.S. electricity demand will increase by as much as 40 percent, an increase that surpasses any rise in history. Clearly, it’s time to start planning for what’s next.

Every Community Is Unique. How Do You Prepare Yours?

It’s important to begin solution-planning for your community now, so you can work through today’s issues and be ready for what’s ahead. Most importantly, your solution should reflect the unique needs of your community. With so many power options available, it can be hard to know where to start. A trusted expert will take the time to understand your goals and ask the right questions to guide you toward the best-fit solutions.

Key Questions to Explore:

• How much power do you need?
• What challenges does your community face?
• What are your goals and motivations for making energy decisions?
• What is your long-term vision?

Other important factors to consider include site availability, access to fuels, your budget, and your desire to achieve your sustainability goals.

Map Your Solutions, Aligning Energy With Urgency

Starting with your most urgent needs, you can map a timeline to help you scale your power growth from now into the years ahead. Cat Electric Power, in conjunction with the Cat dealer network, will work with you to understand your community and your goals to guide you toward energy solutions that fit your needs. To learn more, visit Cat.com/PowerSolutions.

Flexibility refers to a generator's ability to respond to rapid changes in electricity supply or demand. With resource attributes designed for flexibility and fast response, Wärtsilä's reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE) are the superior choice to maintain reliability and affordability.

Mileage Separates Flexible Technologies From Traditional Dispatchable Generation

Flexible generation, like RICE, can quickly ramp to the exact output needed and quickly turn off when not needed. Inflexible generation—like coal, natural gas boilers, and combined cycles—are limited by slower startups, longer runtimes and downtimes, and higher minimum operating levels. Although these technologies are dispatchable because their output is controllable, they are not flexible enough to respond to minute-by-minute grid intermittency. Just like an odometer measures a car’s movement, a generator's mileage quantifies its total movement over an operating period. When net demand spikes, flexible RICE generation can start up in five minutes, quickly ramp to the exact output needed, and then turn off almost instantly when load is served. When net demand climbs again, Wärtsilä engines can turn back on without any minimum downtime. Since inflexible generators cannot ramp up or down as frequently as flexible generators, they do not provide as much mileage as flexible dispatchable generation.

Flexible Generation Captures Sub-Hourly Value

In this example, net load at an Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) node rises by 600 megawatts (MW) between Point A and Point C in two hours. During that same period, intrahour variability exceeds 3,500 MW. Both inflexible and flexible generation resources can satisfy the hourly net load at Point A, Point B and Point C, but only flexible RICE generation can track sub-hourly fluctuation and capture untapped value.

Wärtsilä’s Reciprocating Engines Offer Superior Reliability and Value for Utilities

Wärtsilä’s flexible generation outperforms other dispatchable technologies in balancing grid variability. Case Study: Performance of RICE versus Aeroderivative Turbines in ERCOT, 2022:

• RICE plants recorded nearly three times as many starts as the turbine plants.
• RICE plants provided four times as much mileage as turbine plants.
• RICE had 60-percent higher real time market revenue potential than turbine plants.

When graded against other dispatchable technologies, Wärtsilä’s flexible generation outperforms.

• Wärtsilä’s RICE technology starts more often than a less flexible peaking technology like aeroderivative turbines.
• Compared to turbines, Wärtsilä engines provide more mileage to address variability.
• Wärtsilä engines offer greater revenue generation and savings opportunities than less flexible turbines.

Visit our website for more information.

In today's evolving energy landscape, utilities constantly work to streamline operations, enhance reliability, and maintain affordability. At the same time, they are investing tens of billions of dollars each year to build new energy infrastructure, upgrade existing assets, and leverage new technologies to meet rising energy demand.

Industry leaders know that infrastructure and asset decisions made today will reverberate decades into the future. In the most capital-intensive—and one of the most asset-intensive—sectors of the economy, success hinges on predictive and data-driven decisions combined with effective organizational change management to ensure companies are quickly realizing return on their investments and meeting the needs of today and tomorrow.

Firms cannot afford to make operational decisions lightly, given the scale of grid investments being made; the projected energy needs of an increasingly digital and electrified economy; widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies; and the evolving natures of physical, cyber, and weather-related threats to the grid.

Technological integration—and a willingness to move beyond a business-as-usual mentality—is key to navigating today’s complex energy landscape. However, upending years, and in some cases decades, of legacy business practices to adopt new tools can be challenging. Change is hard, and it does not happen in a vacuum.

Utilities increasingly are realizing that the success of a new technology is intrinsically tied to the depth and quality of the organization change management strategy driving its adoption. Successful firms are embracing holistic organization change management programs and strategic, structured process redesigns to ensure their new tools of choice are working as intended, making companies more agile, productive, and profitable.

At the same time, they are seeing their employees find increased job satisfaction, helping them see their integral role in the organization's business success. Advisors like those at Kairos Worldwide are helping firms reengineer processes, navigate change, develop effective enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions with end-to-end operational support, and maximize their return on investment.

With extensive experience navigating the complex regulatory, environmental, and operational variables that utilities prioritize, Kairos Worldwide is helping companies manage change as it happens, making informed decisions about their infrastructure and technology needs to enable employees and drive sustainable solutions that stick.

Driving Operational Excellence

Kairos Worldwide has found that 85 percent of executives believe organizational change management is critical to their success in times of disruption. And, given the foundational disruptions that electrification, data centers, and AI are creating for utilities around the world, the firm is increasingly working with energy companies to develop solutions for managing their infrastructure and adopting new efficiency-driving technologies. 

This work is particularly important for large, segmented, multiregional corporations that run the risk of decentralized and inefficient operations if a parent company and its individual subsidiaries aren’t marching to the beat of the same drum. Kairos Worldwide helps these firms standardize their EAM solutions and product adoptions, driving top-to-bottom efficiencies while ensuring process redesigns are applicable and understood across the broader organization.

Kairos Worldwide embeds experts directly with clients, providing organizational change management plans and hands-on support to ensure successful engagement at every level, identification of barriers, and faster adoption of new systems and processes, leaning into technology with a human touch.

Kairos Worldwide is empowering organizations to drive lasting change, realize strategic goals, optimize asset management, strategically adopt and deploy new technologies, and rethink the way they work. 

Visit kairosww.com to learn more.

In my conversations with energy leaders, I hear similar challenges repeatedly: aging infrastructure putting immense pressure on emergency response, a rapidly retiring workforce taking decades of expertise out the door, and customers expecting fast and digital-first service.

Yet, most companies continue to tackle these converging challenges with disconnected technologies that weren't designed to work together and weren't built with field teams in mind. Core operational domains—such as Construction Management, Enterprise Asset Management, and Field Service Management—still operate on separate, isolated systems. Every handoff creates friction: Data is lost during project transitions, crews revisit the same sites multiple times, emergency response lags, and hours of valuable workforce time are spent reconciling systems instead of doing work that matters. Research shows that 20–30 percent of workforce capacity is lost to these inefficiencies daily.

It’s time to move beyond this outdated, siloed approach. The next evolution in energy operations is unification—a single, connected ecosystem where every department, team, and employee shares the same operational picture and work flows seamlessly from design, to commissioning, to long-term maintenance, to service delivery.

This vision is what drives us at KloudGin. With our Single Face of Work®, we’ve built the industry’s only cloud-native, mobile-first platform that truly unifies all three operational domains while preserving the specialized capabilities companies need. Instead of forcing artificial boundaries or complex integrations, we deliver a layer of operational intelligence and workflow continuity that turns disconnected activities into coordinated execution. 

When construction, asset, and field service management all operate on one unified platform, the results are exponential:

• Engineering data flows seamlessly from construction to asset systems, eliminating costly delays and data loss.
• Engineering data flows seamlessly from construction to asset systems, eliminating costly delays and data loss.
• Emergency response accelerates, cutting asset-related downtime by up to 45 percent and enabling accurate, proactive customer communications.
• Customers receive timely, accurate updates because operations finally work as one.

This isn’t just a technology upgrade—it’s a new operational paradigm for companies, one that maximizes workforce potential, enhances safety and reliability, and delivers the frictionless service experience customers increasingly expect. The future of industry operations will be unified—and with KloudGin, that future starts now.

Discover how leading companies are breaking down silos and achieving measurable results through operational unification: Read the full white paper.

When you consider the next level of analysis, as 10 or 20 residential properties roll up to a single transformer, the importance of understanding the individual demand characteristics of each home becomes even greater. A transformer's load shape is the aggregate of the load shapes of the homes that it serves. And, as those 10 or 20 homes on a single transformer increasingly electrify, they can create rapid, unexpected demand spikes on that transformer.

Leading energy companies are now leveraging behind-the-meter intelligence to understand each customer's energy usage patterns and rolling up those granular insights to provide comprehensive views of transformers, feeders, and substations. This bottom-up view enables more informed decisions about what infrastructure improvements are needed today in order to maintain grid reliability and resilience.

Even more compelling, behind-the-meter intelligence can inform scenario planning that enables data-driven decision making long into the future. By modeling various policy, consumer behavior, and economic scenarios—such as different rates of EV adoption or building electrification—energy companies can make informed decisions about both traditional infrastructure investments and non-wire alternatives. Generative artificial intelligence is now amplifying this scenario planning capability by simulating multiple permutations and combinations of input parameters, enabling grid planners to evaluate countless nonwire alternative strategies and predict individual asset performance across different timeframes.

At Bidgely, we are working with a wide range of energy companies to implement this next-generation grid planning approach. The urgency of this transformation cannot be overstated. While many energy companies may not yet have reached the electrification or distributed energy resource adoption tipping points, those tipping points could arrive within just one to two years. Energy companies that begin implementing comprehensive scenario planning will be positioned to successfully manage the energy revolution now underway.

The shift from viewing customers as uniform loads to understanding them as unique energy participants represents a fundamental change in energy company planning. Those embracing this data-driven, customer-centric approach will build more resilient, efficient infrastructure capable of supporting new supply and demand paradigms while maintaining the reliability customers expect.

The industry cannot afford to rely on outdated legacy methods. Currently, object-on-wire faults are a sizable source of outages and are usually discovered through field teams visually inspecting line segment by line segment. This is a tedious process, especially across large distribution grids and lines spanning remote locations.

Similar to automation solutions in manufacturing, the energy grid could benefit dramatically through the application of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Cue: Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) 2.0 meters, with the processing power to deliver AI at the edge of the grid.

This modernization can shift the way companies and their customers interact by creating a smart, distributed, connected grid. AMI 2.0 meters can support software running AI models directly in every meter across the grid, and they can process 50-million times more data than first generation smart meters for near-instantaneous visibility into the distribution system. This allows companies to detect faults and safety threats before they escalate. With the right sensing, processing speed, and control capabilities, on-meter, software-based vegetation management is more effective than existing solutions.

At Sense, the real-time data intelligence we deliver through next-generation smart meters improves grid reliability, safety, and operational efficiency. We work with companies like Southern Company’s Georgia Power and its customers to pilot these capabilities in the field.

We give companies a high-resolution view of the local grid distribution system and the ability to experience the potential of AMI 2.0. During strong winds, for example, tree branches often disrupt power wires, but with smart meters, grid operators see anomalies occur near-instantly and can act immediately to avoid outages. With AMI 2.0’s powerful computation placed on the grid edge, it’s simple to improve response times and deploy service teams.

AMI 2.0 meters that provide a high-resolution view of the local distribution system and allow companies to respond to resilience issues as they happen are the way forward.

Electric companies are under increasing pressure to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy. Wärtsilä’s reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE) technology offers a flexible, efficient solution to meet these demands—especially as companies integrate more renewable energy onto the grid.

Wärtsilä's RICE plants deliver several advantages: fast startup times, flexible operation across varying power levels, strong part-load efficiency, and grid stability. These features make RICE ideal for balancing intermittent renewables and ensuring power system reliability. Additionally, Wärtsilä’s engines are future-proof, capable of running on hydrogenblended fuels to support decarbonization goals.

Flexibility is key to Wärtsilä’s success. Some companies deploy RICE exclusively; others use it alongside gas turbines to balance renewables. The technology adapts to a wide range of energy profiles, helping companies deliver clean power while keeping costs low for customers.

One standout example is WEC Energy Group, which serves 4.7 million customers across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. Starting a decade ago, WEC Energy sought modular, quick-start gas plants to enhance their generation fleet. They chose Wärtsilä for its strong global track record, U.S. presence, and proven technology solutions. Today, WEC Energy has 17 Wärtsilä engines in operation, with more planned.

Wärtsilä engines also achieved a major milestone: a successful hydrogen fuel blend test in an existing engine. In collaboration with WEC Energy Group, EPRI, and Burns & McDonnell, Wärtsilä demonstrated that its engines could operate on a 25 volume-percent hydrogen blend without any mechanical modifications. Over three days of testing, the engines maintained high efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reaching 95 percent engine load with a 25 volume-percent hydrogen blend and 100 percent load at 17 volume-percent.

“The pilot was a success,” said Dan Krueger, Executive Vice President at WEC Energy Group. “It showed us these engines can run on a 25 percent hydrogen blend without significant efficiency impacts, while also reducing emissions.”

This project marks the first time a commercially operated balancing engine of this size has run on a hydrogen fuel blend and reinforces Wärtsilä’s leadership in hydrogen-ready technology. The company continues research and development efforts toward launching a 100-percent hydrogen-capable engine by 2026.

For WEC Energy Group, Wärtsilä’s flexible, modular, quick-ramping engines are crucial to the company’s energy transformation focused on reliability, affordability, and economic growth. They provide the adaptability needed to navigate rising electricity demand, new environmental regulations, and greater renewable energy integration.

The expansion of energy-intensive industries is one reason why companies are facing demands to add new, cleaner generation capacity quickly. Wärtsilä’s reciprocating engine technology helps address this challenge with relatively fast delivery timelines compared to timelines from gas-turbine manufacturers. These shorter lead times allow companies to bring flexible, reliable generation online faster than traditional large-scale infrastructure projects, helping them respond to demand growth without long delays.

With companies seeking scalable, future-ready solutions, Wärtsilä’s RICE technology stands out as a powerful tool for clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

Watch our video at wartsila.com/hydrogenblend.

Aging energy infrastructure and ever-increasing power requirements necessitate not only a diverse mix of energy solutions, but also a robust, skilled workforce capable of safely installing, maintaining, and upgrading the systems that power our everyday lives.

Rising Demand and Workforce Gaps

Across the United States, industries are experiencing a shortage of trained and willing workers. According to ManpowerGroup, 74 percent of employers struggle to find skilled talent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 62.6 percent of the working-age population participates in the workforce, leaving companies short 1.9 million workers.

According to the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD), energy jobs grew 3.8 percent in 2024, adding 250,000 jobs that year alone. Furthermore, CEWD anticipates the energy sector will need to hire 32 million people during the next decade to address both expansion and replacement needs. Complicating matters: 50 percent of the current industry workforce is 45 years old or older, while Generation Z and Millennials comprise 40 percent of the current workforce

The Role of Industry Stakeholders

This substantial demand will require energy leaders to collaborate on education and training initiatives while taking a comprehensive approach to job recruitment and training. This includes working with technical schools, skills organizations, labor groups, and diverse outreach organizations. Continuous education, upskilling, mentorship, and career progression are important to attracting and retaining talent, with a focus on both new entrants to the field and mid- career professionals who want to advance.

Bridging the Gap

Energy providers are increasingly turning to partners that can supply not only equipment, but also the workers needed to complete essential infrastructure projects. In addition to 8,600 union and non-union employees positioned across North America, Centuri has demonstrated that we can mobilize thousands more skilled and qualified individuals to meet the demands of our customers and our projects— and to mobilize during emergency response situations— through recruiting campaigns and ongoing talent pipeline development. Our in-house safety and training programs ensure employees have the highest standards of qualifications and the confidence to succeed on the job. A full suite of learning and development programs support skills development and career progression.

In addition, our U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)-approved, four-year Lineman Apprenticeship program is another way we are working to ensure our workforce possesses the necessary competencies. Apprentices of all demographics receive 8,000+ hours of blended training, and, upon successful completion, receive a DOL Journeyman Certification and Journeyman certificate. Today, we have 600 enrolled apprentices and 98 graduates.

The Workforce Reality

While artificial intelligence will undoubtedly create efficiencies in our personal and professional lives, the reality is we still need people to build and sustain critical infrastructure. Reliable partners who can mobilize and provide a highly skilled and safe workforce should be focused on developing programs that attract the next generation, inviting them to be part of the solution to our generation’s energy challenges.

The stakes have rarely been higher for electric companies. The U.S. power system is experiencing intense demand growth, supply chain delays, and a rapidly changing policy environment. Suddenly, companies are expected to interconnect new demand and generation quickly wherever it’s needed, solve complex supply chain issues, and meet ever-changing regulations, all while maintaining affordability and reliability.

Fast-changing system demands, driven by electrification and the rise of artificial intelligence data center growth, require a new class of solutions. Flexible planning capabilities like just-in-time capacity, surplus interconnection processes, and novel tariff structures and commercial constructs are increasingly valuable in the face of unprecedented uncertainty and change.

In short, flexibility and speed are critical for companies to succeed in an increasingly dynamic era. Innovative technologies like Mainspring Energy’s linear generator deliver new capabilities that enable companies to meet the moment now.

Move Faster

• Build “just-in-time” modular capacity wherever it is needed to alleviate system constraints.
• Obtain air permits close to demand and in nonattainment areas (<1.5 parts per million nitrogen oxide emissions [NOx] without after-treatment).
• Bypass congested supply chains for high-voltage transmission equipment.

Increase Reliability

• Leverage fuel flexibility to reduce fuel supply risks with a wide option of fuels: natural gas, propane, biogas, hydrogen, or ammonia.
• Use modularity to affordably obtain very high levels of reliability, especially where fixed gas supply is unavailable.

Explore New Ownership and Commercial Pathways

• Company ownership of power island: Bridge power for connecting the data center in the short run and peaking dispatch in the long run.
• Constructs to provide interruptible supply of power to expedite connections and economic development.

Mainspring’s linear generator is designed to give companies ultimate flexibility to solve the most challenging grid constraints, from end-of-line power quality to rampant demand growth in metropolitan areas and fuel-based long-duration energy storage.

Regardless of the policy environment, companies powered by Mainspring gain field-proven power generation with future-proof fuel optionality—and ultra-low NOx, particulate matter, and volatile organic compound emissions—integrated into a highly efficient and operationally flexible product with extremely fast start-up time and near instantaneous ramping capability.

Mainspring is working with the industry to meet the challenges of intense demand growth and evolving system needs while ensuring that infrastructure investments deliver fast, reliable, and affordable solutions today and beyond. Learn more at mainspringenergy.com/contact.

Amazon's rise to a $2.5-trillion market cap exemplifies this concept perfectly. As customer numbers grew on their platform, more sellers and products were attracted to join, which in turn drew even more customers—creating an ever-accelerating cycle of value and growth.

Today, the electric power industry stands at a similar inflection point. Unlike the traditional linear approach to industry operations, the modern grid is evolving into an integrated ecosystem as electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy sources, and battery storage systems enable customers to actively participate in grid management.

This industry flywheel begins with customer engagement. As distributed energy resources gain widespread adoption, there are significant variations in both geographical distribution and device types. Treating customers regionwide as a uniform cohort no longer works. Companies must employ hyper-personalized messaging tailored to each customer's unique appliance usage, EV/solar asset ownership, and lifestyle preferences.

By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), companies can detect who has EVs, solar panels, or inefficient appliances, as well as define energy use patterns for each. This sets the flywheel in motion: delivering exceptional, personalized experiences that foster positive customer relationships and motivate active grid support participation.

The second part of the flywheel focuses on grid planning. Behind-the-meter customer energy use data provides grid analysts with critical insights into where assets face constraints. AI-enabled platforms can identify which customers own specific devices and their usage patterns, and companies can pinpoint those with the greatest load shaping or shifting potential to alleviate grid constraints.

This leads to the final component: load management. Among the various approaches to manage peak load, load shifting and load shaping prove most effective for addressing long-term grid stability as distributed energy resources scale. With AI-based disaggregation of behind-the-meter data, companies gain access to energy usage by appliance type and consumption patterns, enabling precisely targeted program recruitment.

Because companies have already delivered exceptional, personalized experiences, target customers are primed to become willing participants in demand response programs. This reduces overall energy costs for customers, enhancing their experience and bringing us full circle to the start of the flywheel, where it continues to turn with increasing momentum.

Just as Amazon's flywheel inspired a retail evolution, the energy space is now poised for its own transformative f lywheel transition. Please reach out to continue the conversation.

Climate change, the need for grid modernization, artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies, along with a rapid buildout of data centers across the United States and around the world, are contributing to energy demand growth the likes of which the industry hasn’t seen in decades. The ongoing reshoring of manufacturing, electrification of transportation, and industrialization of the U.S. economy are further fueling this trend. In addition to these, resource and talent constraints create an immense challenge at this critical time.

Meeting the energy demands of today and tomorrow will depend on the buildout of new critical energy infrastructure and technology of all kinds, upgrades to existing assets to better and more efficiently serve customers, and significant investment.

Fundamentally, success will depend on the ability to manage change—and on companies that can effectively navigate that change while accepting that “business as usual” is no longer an option.

Managing change is not easy, and it is not a common skill set in an industry with lean operating teams. And, given that no two companies share the same infrastruc-ture needs—customer dynamics, operating budgets, and long-term growth targets—there are no one-size-fits-all solutions.

The introduction of new and efficient technologies needs to be heavily scrutinized at an operational level. A new device or program without a pre-planned workflow solution typically will not deliver the return that companies expect.

Navigating the scale of this change demands the experience of diverse and versatile teams laser-focused on process and project management, organizational development, inventory control, and other relevant operational needs. Leadership teams need to quickly learn about what they don’t know and understand how best to leverage cutting-edge technologies and support cross-functional teams to ultimately realize their strategic goals.

Expert consulting teams, like those at Kairos Worldwide, are already proving to be a tremendous asset to utilities looking to better serve customers while driving robust, sustainable growth. With an existing customer base including companies like Ameren, the Exelon Corporation, Southern Company, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Kairos Worldwide is a trusted partner helping companies close the gap between planning and activation. We achieve this by combining a very focused listening ear with deep skills in collaborative process design and support in navigating the organizational changes that are necessary to support sustainable growth and business success

Navigating a Shifting Landscape

Change management experts bring a fresh perspective that helps businesses navigate the future with confidence. That’s particularly important for an energy landscape that is constantly changing—and with a workforce that is older, on average, than the rest of the labor market. Nearly 1 in 5 workers in the utility industry is at least 55 years old, while only 31 percent of workers are younger than 35, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With some organizations downsizing and others navigating a wave of retirements from long-standing industry veterans, the risk of “brain drain” poses considerable risk to operational efficiency.

While this is a daunting challenge to navigate internally, it can be remedied with the help of a team like the one at Kairos Worldwide, which is dedicated to redesigning workflows to improve efficiencies, empower teams, and help people thrive in their evolving roles. And our experience has provided us with deep insights into the motivations and mindsets of the varying demographic groups that comprise the current workforce profile. We can help to design change management strategies that work to engage employees, wherever they are in their career trajectories, and drive adoption of new processes and tools. Stakeholders have different needs. We recognize that and adapt and tailor as needed to promote successful adoption.

Whether that work takes the shape of high-level risk analysis or developing comprehensive methodologies to analyze the performance of geographically diverse assets, good change management leaders treat clients’ greatest operational challenges as their own, delivering successful and enduring outcomes.

At Kairos Worldwide, our suite of custom solutions targets three key areas:

• Organizational Change Management: We know that effective change does not happen in a vacuum. We collaborate with your team to create customized change programs tailored to fit your organization’s requirements, focusing on organizational analysis, sponsor and leadership engagement, collaboration, training and organizational development, and establishing clear and structured reporting processes. We pay very close attention to cultural imperatives and ensure that all change management strategies align with and support a culture that thrives and is evolving to meet the future.
• Process Reengineering: Old habits are difficult to break, so it can be challenging to make new processes stick. We work side-by-side with your organization to assess your existing processes, systems, and procedures to optimize efficient and lasting solutions.
• Project Management: Establishing schedules, budgets, scope, and necessary changes is the backbone of everything we do. We establish key metrics upfront and blend process reengineering, project controls, and change management methodologies into our work to increase parameter accuracy, improve cross-functional collaboration, and lead to higher levels of adoption

By working with third-party experts to establish strong and durable internal practices, the path to success through a rapidly changing landscape becomes much clearer. That clarity can make a world of difference for companies, their customers, and their long-term goals.

Visit kairosww.com to learn more.

After managing decades of relatively static and predictable energy demand curves, electric companies in recent years have been racing to keep up with once-in-ageneration growth driven by data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) breakthroughs, industrialization and the reshoring of manufacturing activity, and the ongoing electrification of transportation and the broader economy.

Demand projections vary across the country and are regularly revised. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) projected late last year that the U.S. summer demand peak would rise by more than 122 gigawatts (GW) over the course of the next decade—a projection that grew by more than 50 percent in just a year’s time.

Although the precise number of electrons that will be required to meet customer demand 5, 10, and 20 years into the future remains uncertain, experts agree that the world’s appetite for electricity is only moving in one direction: up. That’s forcing electric companies to rethink business as usual.

“Demand growth is at the forefront of every discussion that we have every day with our energy clients,” says Guidehouse Partner and Global Energy Providers Lead Michelle Fay. “If you think about how the industry has traditionally done things like forecasting, planning, and infrastructure development, the methods and approaches that they’ve been using to this point are not really going to be sufficient to meet the escalating demand we're seeing.”

Advisors like Guidehouse are helping EEI member companies navigate this unique moment. Electric companies are making significant investments in America’s critical energy infrastructure, committing $186.4 billion last year alone to make the grid smarter, stronger, cleaner, more resilient, and more secure. That was the 13th-straight year that the industry’s grid investments climbed to record highs, according to EEI’s industry financial records.

Yet, more investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure, grid-enhancing technologies, and generation sources of all kinds will be needed to meet evolving customer needs and power the economy of the future. With AI processes already revamping entire industries on the world stage, America’s global economic competitiveness will depend in part on new technologies’ and data centers’ access to power, largely on compressed timelines.

Guidehouse is helping industry leaders make informed, pragmatic changes to existing operating models, supply chains, workforce development programs, construction management processes, and contractor management practices to better equip them to move and deploy capital more quickly. To meet projected demand growth in their service territories, electric companies must continue to make smart decisions in the coming months and years to ensure the grid is where it needs to be decades into the future.

“We will need to adapt more quickly to market demands, while at the same time handling tremendous pressure to enhance efficiency and reduce costs,” says Fay. “AI and advanced technologies are going to be critical to address these challenges and ensure electric companies can scale effectively and reliably.”

Indeed, the same technologies that are driving companies’ grid optimization and expansion plans may be key to seizing the opportunities before them. A recent IBM study estimated that 74 percent of energy companies had explored the use of AI in some capacity to enhance operations, and experts at Guidehouse consistently advise their industry clients to embrace innovative technologies and solutions as part of their capital deployment strategies.

“It can obviously be overwhelming to navigate. Part of this is balancing short-term needs and long-term implications, really looking at what near-term investments are going to allow for longer-term benefits,” says Fay. “We continue to see resiliency investments, investments that enhance energy security, and investments that leverage technology advancements and reduce risk.”

“Demand growth is at the forefront of every discussion that we have every day with our energy clients.”

—Michelle Fay, Partner and Global Energy Providers Lead, Guidehouse

‘The Potential Is Endless’

Although AI and advanced technologies have practical uses on the grid through advanced line ratings systems, wildfire monitoring programs, and distributed energy resource deployment, one area that stands to significantly benefit from innovation is regulatory compliance. As electric companies grow, integrating new assets and customers, so, too, does their responsibility to comply with hundreds of regulatory mandates. Many compliance standards also vary geographically, so, for large companies that operate in several different jurisdictions, expanding the grid and bringing new assets online comes with a unique set of challenges.

“Since about 2007, electric companies have seen an influx of mandatory regulations pertaining to reliability and security compliance. They’ve thrown everything at these increasing responsibilities, including people, tools, and technology solutions,” says Guidehouse Partner Chris Luras. “The problem with these solutions is that, in some cases, they've been fragmented and uncoordinated, which has led to disparate tools, redundant responsibilities, and just overall inefficient operations.”

Guidehouse is working with several industry clients to help streamline regulatory and compliance work—including helping electric companies navigate Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) compliance, an industry set of standards to help guard against cyber and physical security threats.

CIP compliance is particularly daunting for large, multi-jurisdictional companies that operate in several states and could be audited multiple times each year. Preparing for such audits has historically been an expensive, time-consuming, laborintensive process, often involving tens of thousands of data points.

Guidehouse is helping companies explore how they can develop centralized hubs that can monitor compliance across thousands of company assets in real time. Using an enterprise data warehouse and advanced analytics platform, companies can aggregate data across thousands of miles of infrastructure, distill it, and analyze it without needing to dedicate months of employee bandwidth to audit preparation.

Guidehouse Partner Eduardo Balbis says access to real-time information will be incredibly valuable as companies plan significant infrastructure investments during the next several years. EEI member companies are expected to invest more than $200 billion this year alone to upgrade the grid, with many embarking on long-term, multi-year critical infrastructure projects. Balbis also notes that AI technology can be layered on top of data collection programs to make proactive investment decisions more efficiently rather than simply reacting to compliance concerns.

“All electric companies have these compliance responsibilities, security risks and threats, and a need to quickly consolidate and analyze data,” says Luras. “And, once companies have all of this accurate information, the potential is endless for us to use AI technology to replace human monitoring and auditing.”

“All electric companies have these compliance responsibilities, security risks and threats, and a need to quickly consolidate and analyze data.”

—Chris Luras, Partner, Guidehouse

Articulating the Value of Innovation

An electric company’s ability to access, analyze, and share information quickly through bulk data collection also is critical to engagement with regulators, particularly as companies look to invest in new grid-enhancing technologies and critical energy infrastructure.

“Electric companies are often faced with the need to provide supporting data to inform both regulators and the public how their investments will generate value and ultimately drive better outcomes for customers,” says Guidehouse Partner Aida Hakirevic. “Moreso than ever before, they need to show tangible benefits and how investments mitigate long-term costs to customers when they’re looking to enhance grid resilience, meet demand growth, and even replace old IT systems.”

This was a concern for Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest electric and natural gas company, after they received approval from the Board of Public Utilities in New Jersey in 2021 to deploy 2.3 million smart meters across their service territory. Aimed at enhancing grid reliability, improving customer service, and enabling more efficient energy usage, PSE&G expected the deployment would cost $775 million to implement advanced 
metering infrastructure (AMI) capabilities.

In an effort to report the success of the program back to regulators as part of the company’s rate review proceeding, PSE&G worked with Guidehouse to track, calculate, and report AMI benefits throughout the project’s rollout. Using the Microsoft Power Platform (MS Power BI) to develop an AMI program dashboard, PSE&G was able to map regulatory commitments to AMI use cases and associated benefits.

Tracing benefits data and the information from prior relevant filings via AMI dashboard provided transparency they could holistically take back to regulators.

“Data visualization is a powerful bridge between advanced metering data and decision-making. It enables leaders to clearly demonstrate how AMI investments are delivering tangible value—improving service reliability, enhancing customer engagement, and driving smarter energy use across our communities. It's not just about collecting data; it's about making it meaningful and measurable,” says PSEG’s Chief Information & Digital Officer Zeeshan Sheikh.

“With technology investments, in general, it can be really difficult to define the value of an ultimate outcome and what a certain investment provides,” Hakirevic says. “Companies are often challenged how to articulate value to regulators and clearly show benefits of their technology investments. There are so many competing priorities for grid assets and IT modernization. We were incredibly proud to be one of PSE&G’s key partners to achieve this as part of their AMI technology investment.”

Hakirevic notes that electric companies' relationship with their regulatory partners is increasingly dependent upon regular and ongoing engagement—and that systems like PSE&G’s AMI benefits tracker can help show ongoing returns on investment.

“It’s one thing to present a great business case but then not follow through to show evidence of return,” Hakirevic says. “Whereas PSE&G did this in real time, with recorded benefits and implemented capabilities reported and found to be prudent by regulators.”

“With technology investments, in general, it can be really difficult to define the value of an ultimate outcome and what a certain investment provides.”

—Aida Hakirevic, Partner, Guidehouse

‘Conditions are Changing Quickly’

Fay says she is encouraged by the industry's embrace of new and innovative technologies to streamline processes, engage more constructively with regulators and industry partners, and accelerate capital deployment. However, she cautions that “we’re no longer in three-year planning cycles” and that “conditions are changing quickly, which means planning processes need to keep up with these accelerated timelines.”

When evaluating technology solutions with clients, Fay points to three key areas of focus:

• What value will this innovation bring in the short and long term, and how can those benefits be measured? “You need to ensure investments are prudent and can withstand regulatory scrutiny and be ready to change course if the project is not going according to plan,” she says.
• What sort of risk is your company willing to take on? “You need to be clear about how much risk tolerance you have. That’s often dependent on the maturity of the solution, particularly in the case of a technology investment,” says Fay.
• Is your company ready to support implementation? “You may have the greatest innovation or technology in the world that has proven to work somewhere else, but is your organization ready, and is your workforce ready, to take this on and realize the benefits?” Fay asks.

Fay says there is no shortage of tools available to help electric companies deliver reliable electricity as affordably as possible to customers—and that honest answers to these sorts of questions can provide clarity during a time of significant change for the industry.

“We're witnessing not just a single type of technology solution emerging, but a significant influx of new technological capabilities that are specifically supporting electric companies in various ways,” she says. “Many companies are making substantial investments, exploring a wide range of vendors and solutions to ensure their needs are effectively met. It's clear that a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn't apply."