November 2013
Featured in this insight: Electricity, Financial services, Gas, IT & telecommunications, Manufacturing, engineering & industrial, International
Utility market research shows executives believe that the benefits of smart grids and smart meters will exceed industry forecasts: According to a recent survey, more than two-thirds of utilities executives believe that the benefits of smart grids and smart meter deployments – including improved customer service, reliability and outage response – will exceed original industry forecasts. Among respondents, the majority (85%) also expect to see the industry’s competitive landscape change within the next five years.
The Digitally Enabled Grid survey of fifty-four utilities executives in thirteen countries found that for 98% of the utilities represented, the smart grid is a natural extension of the on-going upgrades to the electricity network, suggesting that smart grid technology has become a major part of the investment strategy.
Nearly two-thirds (60%) of the executives said that, for their company, analytics solutions are to be highest priority smart grid investment in the coming years – among North American executive this figure rose to three quarters (75%).
Jack Azagury, Global Managing Director Of Accenture Smart Grid Services, Said:
“Our research confirms that executives expect smart grid solutions to reduce the cost of grid maintenance and upgrades and improve the reliability of the grid, while allowing it to support new technologies… The leading utilities will be the ones that embrace the potential offered by new smart grid technologies and adapt their business model to leverage these into new business opportunities for growth.”
The Digitally Enabled Grid survey, conducted by Accenture, surveyed fifty-three global utility’s executives in thirteen countries.
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