| | APRIL 20188CIOReviewTHE DIGITAL UTILITY NEEDS ­ AND PROMOTES ­ A CHANGING CORPORATE CULTUREBy Dr. Dirk E. Mahling, CMVP; VP ­ Technology and Strategy, Alliant EnergyUtilities and energy companies are rapidly adopting deeper and broader digitization to remain relevant to their customers and to respond to the changing parameters in the regulatory world. Solar arrays, large scale renewables, wind farms and the emergence of prosumers (customers generating and selling electricity) represent one of the shaping forces of the changing utility world. Disintermediation by vendors that allow large commercial and industrial accounts to disconnect from the grid by providing distributed generation and storage solutions represent the other force.Caught between these two forces, those in the utility industry must quickly respond ­ and that response, to a large extent, has been the adoption of new technologies. In particular, this has included the renewed effort to further digitize all elements of the utility: generation, distribution, customer service, energy delivery, etc. This digitization is based on a collection of advanced technologies, such as:· Internet of Things (IoT)· Next generation Industrial Control Systems (ICS)· Grid Edge Devices (SCADA, AMI, etc.)· Analytics· Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence· Digital Workflows and Robotic Process Automation (RPA)Utilities are embracing digitization in order to control cost and deliver innovative energy services in a world where customers ask for more choices and participation. This is a new challenge to utility employees, where customers are no longer satisfied by merely dialing into a call center, but measure service, support and convenience by comparison to the best on the web. The "Amazon experience" is becoming the expected standard in all areas.For this reason, utilities have kicked off "digital utility" projects that embrace these new technologies and promise to deliver on their customers' expectations around choice, price and service level. Yet these digital utility efforts can only be successful if they are also embraced and appropriately realized by employees in the utility.This is the point where the world of fast moving digitization often meets a utility culture that has been shaped by decades of striving for perfect compliance with regulatory processes. This legacy culture is defined by behaviors which tend to favor risk-averseness over agility and experimentation, and insist on high precision and accuracy at the price of forward movement. The legacy culture also values hierarchical command and control structures over pushing authority and responsibility to the lowest level possible, closest to the customer and the equipment. In short, this is a culture that is no longer best suited for the demands of a digital utility.The imperative therefore becomes: If utilities want to stay relevant by offering innovative, flexible solutions that meet customers where they are, they must match their advanced technology with an equally advanced culture and prepared workforce. Dr. Dirk E. Mahling | | APRIL 20188CIOReview
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