A recently released Black & Veatch’s 2019 Strategic Directions: Smart Utilities Report surveyed hundreds of utility operators and found that utility business models are changing to accommodate the growing volume of renewable energy coming onto the grid.
The report explores how grid modernization efforts like the greater integration of renewable energy and distributed energy resources (DER) are reshaping the market, fueling the grid modernization push.
The report found that roughly one in five survey respondents say their utility plans to allocate more than $200 million into modernization investments over the next three years, while an additional 26% say they will devote $100 million to $200 million.
Other key findings show that utilities find budget constraints and competing priorities tied as top barriers to modernization, followed by regulatory hurdles.
30% of utilities now provide at least five DER customer programs. Fewer than 16% provide only just one.
Distributed energy is by far the top application that utilities plan to support in the immediate future, with nearly three-quarters of survey respondents citing DER in general as shaping their distribution infrastructure in coming years.
The report finds that smarter grids, which rely on interconnectedness, will require active network management, better monitoring, control and automation capabilities.
Utilities continue to recognize the critical role of cybersecurity in ensuring the future health, reliability and resilience of the electric grid.
Source: Black & Veatch