“The Rise of the Entrepreneurial Utility”
Chris Richardson for Latitude Media
The utility sector stands at a crossroads. On the one hand, the sector faces the most significant load growth and affordability pressures in most of our lifetimes. On the other, shrinking federal and even state budgets to support low-cost power and grid innovation leave utilities with less room to maneuver.
Meeting that challenge requires a fundamentally different, entrepreneurial approach. It calls for problem-driven innovation, rapid testing and iteration, and creativity under real constraints. This is the only viable response to structural pressures reshaping the entire sector.
“In this environment, innovation can feel risky. Still, the bigger danger may be stagnation.”
Photo credit: Kub The Shadow Simple Man / Shutterstock
Utilities are built on a culture of 99.99% reliability. The rise of data centers, with their even higher reliability requirements, pushes those expectations further. In this environment, innovation can feel risky. Still, the bigger danger may be stagnation. Only through calculated innovation tied to measurable cost and reliability outcomes can utilities meet the demands of this moment.
In some coastal states, electricity rates are now so high that the operating costs of an EV or a building heat pump can exceed those of fossil-based alternatives. Affordability has become the leading topic in board rooms of many utilities today — and a constraint as binding as reliability has always been. That financial pressure narrows what utilities can build and slows the pace of the transition.
