“While initiatives like FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 2222 that aim to enable distributed energy resources to participate in electricity markets can help, state-level implementation often lags, limiting/delaying implementation opportunities.” As the technology continues to mature, and if combined with other smart technologies such as smart inverters, storage will be more powerful and remain an essential bridge between renewable energy and grid reliability. Solar, for example, peaks during the day, but demand often peaks in the evening—storage allows that clean power to be shifted to when it’s actually needed, storing excess renewable energy otherwise wasted and releasing it during high-demand periods.” These tools let customers actively support the grid while cutting costs and improving reliability. “Additionally, if you look at what was once called the ‘duck curve’ in California, it has greatly changed in the https://www.linkinsanity.com/benefits-of-getting-habitual-to-upi-stress-relieving-features.html last 10 years where it’s now a valley,” said Benson.

In tandem with Deloitte’s energy, resources, and industrials leadership, she drives energy research initiatives and manages the execution of the center’s strategy as well as its eminence and thought leadership. He also provides clients with strategic planning, business transformation, business model development, systems engineering, systems integration, feasibility planning and analysis, project/program management and customer relationship management. His projects include operational improvement, business transformation, M&A, and green field strategy design. He brings more than 10 years of management consulting experience working with power and utilities companies as both a consultant and business leader in the industry.

Utilities need intelligent, digital approaches to keep power reliable and resilient.

• For example, a Camus customer can use the platform to optimize charging of batteries to minimize curtailment – while providing the visibility and controls necessary to curtail generation when the battery is full.
• Utilities also face challenges integrating renewables in areas isolated from traditional power plants.
• In the IBM IBV survey, most utility executives surveyed reported having made efforts in modernization, spending, on average, about 9.8% of their annual revenue.
• It provides electricity to buildings, industrial facilities, schools, and homes.
• This requires utilities to deploy control systems and energy storage for large-scale solar systems along with tools that provide real-time visibility of power flows.
• Grid optimization requires monitoring existing infrastructure and planning for future needs.

Why Major Upgrades Don’t Always Address the Root Cause

Utilities are also preparing for higher electricity demand as customers increasingly adopt electric vehicles and become more dependent on the grid to charge them, in addition to replacing traditional furnaces and gas appliances with electric alternatives. Edison Electric Institute, an industry trade group, expects that utilities will invest roughly $140 billion each year in 2022 and 2023, substantially more than any year since 2000, when the group began tracking spending. The plans propose tens of billions of dollars in spending in the coming years to reduce carbon emissions, partly in response to state and federal mandates, and to replace aging infrastructure that has become more prone to failure. American utilities are planning their biggest spending increases in decades to upgrade aging grids, prepare for electric vehicles and make the transition to renewable energy—moves poised to further boost power costs as consumers face historic inflation. Discover the forces reshaping 2026 power and utilities deals, including electrification growth, AI-driven demand and renewed utility consolidation. For regulators and utilities, balancing affordability and investment will shape electrification and AI infrastructure growth trajectories.

Start with visibility

Craig is a managing director with Deloitte Consulting’s Energy, Resources & Industrials practice, focusing on helping public and private sector clients transform their operating models and technology systems to accommodate evolving digital and clean energy technologies. As the population grows, industry takes steps to reduce its carbon pollution, and customers switch over to clean technology, BC Hydro needs to upgrade the electrical network to keep pace. The bulk of these investments will go towards new customer connections and upgrading existing assets, including substations, transmission lines and hydro dams to produce power more efficiently. Bills have lately risen as a result of higher natural-gas prices, and he expects longer-term increases as a result of investments in renewables and electrification—as well as higher electricity use—in pursuit of the state’s carbon-reduction goals. Already, U.S. electricity customers are facing some of the largest bills in years as a result of those factors, and analysts said utilities might face pressure from regulators to keep spending in check to reduce the need for further rate increases. The increased spending is expected to result in higher electricity bills, as utilities are typically allowed to recoup the cost of capital investments, as well as a rate of return, from customers after receiving regulatory approval.

• “DERs integrate renewables by bringing capacity closer to where it’s needed—and faster than traditional infrastructure can,” said Ince-Cushman.
• Start with substations and systems whose failure consequences are highest.
• Powered by ADMS, the system enables real-time monitoring, automated network reconfiguration and centralized operational control.
• Only after utilities gain a clearer understanding of network conditions and operational priorities do large scale physical upgrades become necessary.
• As the population grows, industry takes steps to reduce its carbon pollution, and customers switch over to clean technology, BC Hydro needs to upgrade the electrical network to keep pace.
• Utilities and grid operators are utilizing energy storage, often at substations along the grid, to ensure reliable and efficient electricity delivery.

The Opportunity: Improve Reliability Through Visibility

This often requires projects to modernize the grid, along with the use of new technologies for both asset and grid management. Another issue is that as the share of renewable energy increases, the lack of real-time network management at low voltages can bring network instability, which impacts reliability. EISA provided the legislative support for DOE’s smart grid activities and reinforced its role in leading and coordinating national grid modernization efforts. OE leads national efforts to develop the next generation of technologies, tools, and techniques for the efficient, resilient, reliable, and affordable delivery of electricity in the U.S.

The future of that funding, though, is uncertain—particularly in the U.S. “The Trump administration’s approach to energy policy has generally favored fossil fuels over renewable energy,” said Andrews. State-level programs, such as California’s Microgrid Incentive Program (MIP) and New York’s NY Prize, also provide funding.” “Other upgrades directly attributed to new renewables, say those required for a new data center, may be partly or fully paid for by the company or companies that are seeking the net-zero generation.” “In many cases, grid upgrades will go hand-in-hand with overall grid reliability storm mitigation, demand growth, etc., primarily paid through rate recovery, sometimes with some government support,” said Benson. Benson noted making grid upgrades to help with the integration of renewables is just one reason to modernize infrastructure. Energy industry analysts, as noted earlier, agree that investment—whether public, private, or https://lievell.com/ericsson-partners-with-umniah-jordan-to-cut-network-energy-use-with-ai-ml-solutions.html?noamp=mobile a combination of both—is needed to facilitate grid upgrades that could help with the integration of renewable resources.

A new federal-provincial agreement improves industrial carbon pricing in design but not in ambition — and the low price floors it establishes risk pulling down climate policy across the country. Has signalled its own move toward strategic prioritization, through the province’s ongoing development of a climate-aligned energy strategy. The two utilities’ plans aren’t about building out indiscriminately; they fund both new construction and getting more from existing assets, including upgrading dams and transmission lines.

Data Centers in California

• The future of that funding, though, is uncertain—particularly in the U.S. “The Trump administration’s approach to energy policy has generally favored fossil fuels over renewable energy,” said Andrews.
• Modernized grids improve efficiency, reduce outages, accelerate restoration, and support the integration of distributed energy resources, including solar, wind, and battery storage.
• Energy demands are increasing due to electrification, industrial growth, and artificial intelligence.
• “Additionally, if you look at what was once called the ‘duck curve’ in California, it has greatly changed in the last 10 years where it’s now a valley,” said Benson.
• Our grid orchestration platform provides real-time awareness of conditions at substations, feeders, transformers, and individual devices to identify problems ranging from backfeeding to local voltage violations.
• Lawmakers, along with energy companies and lobbyists for both thermal and renewable energy, have long decried the permitting process in the U.S.

Embracing innovative technologies, fostering public-private partnerships, and considering adaptive policy frameworks should be considered. The business environment can be challenged by dynamic market conditions, a risk-averse culture, and a siloed organizational structure. The global power industry faces a 3.9 million workforce gap, exacerbated by a skills gap amid increasing competition for skilled employees from companies inside and outside the energy industry.25 At the same time, the sector faces career stagnation and rising retirements. For example, the finance-technology nexus is foundational, with financial support enabling technological advancements, which can lead to cost reductions and increased investment attractiveness. This phase transcends traditional boundaries, integrating energy efficiency and optimization across sectors like transportation, buildings, and smart city infrastructure.

Grid modernization utilizes distributed energy resources (DER), also known as wind turbines and solar panels, to create energy. Meaning, multiple clean energy resources (solar power, wind turbines) that are distributed throughout various locations will provide energy in a cleaner, stronger, and more efficient way. Grid Modernization is more than modernizing our power grid, it is the process of strengthening the power grid in every aspect by means of distributed energy resources.

Only after utilities gain a clearer understanding of network conditions and operational priorities do large scale physical upgrades become necessary. Rather than beginning with wholesale asset replacement, the utility is prioritizing centralized intelligence and operational visibility to create a more resilient and future-ready network. A similar strategy is underway in Serbia, where ElektroDistribucija Srbije is modernizing one of Southeast Europe’s largest distribution networks, which serves 3.8 million customers. Beyond operational improvements, ADMS creates the digital foundation for future modernization by helping utilities maximize existing assets and defer unnecessary infrastructure spending. It empowers grid operators to accelerate digital transformation easier, faster and at scale to solve the most pressing challenges of the energy transition.

Embracing distributed solar

However, this transformation requires not just the decentralization of power sources but also a reimagining of the logic and controls, extending these to the grid edge. This phase marks a shift toward a more intelligent and adaptable grid that embraces decentralized, interconnected, and customer-centric energy networks. This strategy navigates progress in three distinct phases, each building upon the previous one to create a comprehensive road map for power grid transformation.