Accelerating digital transformations: A playbook for utilities | McKinsey

For utility companies, transforming operations and systems with digital technologies can create substantial value: a reduction in operating expenses of up to 25 percent, which can translate into lower revenue requirements or higher profits. Performance gains of 20 to 40 percent in such areas as safety, reliability, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance are also achievable. These prospects have led utilities to launch all sorts of efforts to use digital technologies: reimagining customer journeys, adding digital leak detectors to gas grids, using predictive models to schedule maintenance and other asset-management activities, and equipping field workers with mobile devices that let them access technical instructions while in the field, to name a few (see sidebar, “Digital opportunities in the utility sector”). Digital-transformation programs in the utility sector must meet requirements that don’t always apply to others. A significant proportion of utility assets and operation

For utility companies, transforming operations and systems with digital technologies can create substantial value: a reduction in operating expenses of up to 25 percent, which can translate into lower revenue requirements or higher profits. Performance gains of 20 to 40 percent in such areas as safety, reliability, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance are also achievable. These prospects have led utilities to launch all sorts of efforts to use digital technologies: reimagining customer journeys, adding digital leak detectors to gas grids, using predictive models to schedule mainten