By Katherine Tweed | GreenTech Media
Two recent surveys of power and utility executives reinforce previous research showing that the industry knows that a transformation is coming. But dig a little deeper into the findings, and there is a disparity of opinion in what that change looks like and what is driving it.
The utility industry cannot agree on what the primary challenges are, although in almost all cases they are tied to a regulatory framework that no longer serves the industry or its customers.
Siemens’ Utility Dive survey found that aging infrastructure, an aging workforce and an outdated regulatory model were top concerns for utilities. Many hot topics in the press, such as cybersecurity and grid reliability, scored very low on the list. Distributed generation was near the top, but still far below aging infrastructure.
The results would suggest that utilities are most concerned with what they know, namely, the generation facilities and wires that are core to their traditional business, rather than what the future might look like, an outlook that was recently criticized by NRG’s David Crane.
If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, director of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com
