When I read Bill’s blog “Where’s the Snooze Button on Change?” I was inspired to write my own perspective on managing change. And then I hit my own snooze button a few times in the last few months due to some competing priorities. Change fatigue is real – and something I observe often at clients.…
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All of us experience what amounts to “magic” in our daily lives: Every time we flip a switch to turn our lights on they do so instantly. The electric grid is one of humankind’s greatest engineering marvels, balancing electrical supply and demand within a close tolerance at every point along the network to keep our economy and modern way of life running at full speed.…
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The 3rd annual NY Energy Revolution Summit in New York City, was well attended and insightful. Speakers and panelists were dominated by utility executives and industry professionals sharing their respective experience in meeting the requirements of an industry in transition. While challenges remain to create a robust and customer-centric distribution system operator platform, progress...
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The electric utility industry is shaped and transformed through the introduction of disruptive technology ultimately benefiting consumers and improving operations. Often, new technology comes with the collateral impact of the elimination of jobs and skills which for many decades have been in high demand. Smart Grid Technologies are increasingly commonplace throughout the utility industry and...
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Over the last few years, I have led teams of West Monroe consultants through Productivity Blueprint Assessments at many different types of clients within the retail, distribution, and LTL trucking industries. The West Monroe Productivity Blueprint is an assessment based on P.U.M.P. methodology (i.e., Productivity = Utilization x Methods x Performance) that is designed to pinpoint areas of...
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So you may be asking yourself, what is field service and why is it important? Field service refers to the management of a company’s resources/employees/technicians at or en route to customers, rather than on company property (i.e. work done out in “the field”). It’s something that we all deal with as a customer.…
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The Drive to Completion As we discussed in our previous blog, a common element across any successful grid modernization effort is the careful and deliberate approach to forming teams by identifying “the right people, in the right seats on the bus.” Grid modernization is certainly not a sprint, and is a long journey that requires the right team with a common understanding of the program scope...
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Digital transformation is sweeping the globe, across markets and industries. Companies are looking to improve efficiencies by simplifying and streamlining operations through digital, which is the application of value stream mapping, technology, and a focus on enhancing customer and employee experiences. But what does this mean? Just because a manual process or interface is shifted to a digital...
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While electric grid operators in the USA are required to meet cyber security requirements in NERC CIP and implement guidelines such as NISTIR 7628, compliance with the regulation does not automatically imply total security. Additionally, this level of security and compliance focus has not been applied to other utility services, such as water and gas networks.…
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The People Part In our first post, we introduced the unique challenge that utilities face when balancing the need to deliver reliable service while making strategic investments to modernize infrastructure and systems to improve operations. In our second, we combatted the notion that the “PMO” simply manages the scope, schedule, and budget triangle.…
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The “Iron Triangle”, Redefined In our first post, we introduced the unique challenge utilities face when balancing the need to deliver reliable service while making strategic investments to modernize infrastructure and systems to improve operations — all the while enhancing the overall customer experience. We also introduced the framework that has proven highly effective for...
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The Paris Agreement is intended to bring nations together to address and combat climate change with a goal of keeping global temperature rise this century to well below 2 °C (3.6 °F above pre-industrial levels). In this blog, we discuss what the Administration’s decision to exit from the Paris Agreement means for the energy and utility industries in the United States.…
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