What is Digital Utility?

The utility sector includes companies that offer basic amenities such as electricity, natural gas, oil and gas, sewage services, etc. Digital utilities refer to the digital management of distributed energy resources that include individual sites to a complete system. Using the techniques of the digital economy to process projects within the utility is also involved, such as agile development. There are four different types of utility: place, time, form, and possession utility.

The increasing demands for utility in real-time is pushing the industry to attain ways to provide on-time (expected) services. With technology and digitization, this sector is gaining better control over the consumption and access of renewable energy sources gained from the providers.

Digital Utilities and its Future

Traditional utility providers are facing quite a challenge with digital and technology adoption in their sector. Customer expectation has no doubt increased and demands for better quality which is different from the ones present in the traditional ways varies as well.

The demand is of real-time pricing data and to have control over the utility and renewable resources that they consume. This has made it even more difficult for utilities and energy providers. However, to altogether improve the traditional processes and services, the utilities and energy providers are adopting digital platforms such as smart meters, track and trace parcels and posts, smart and connected buildings and homes, and a lot more.This has helped the companies and providers in gaining robust customer engagement and efficient results.

Moreover, the Expert Network Group has deduced that value is to be delivered in the coming years via the energy cloud. This is to be a completely digitized system that is capable of customer support eccentric energy flows with a solid foundation and base built by clean energy, readiness, and innovation.

As for mobile applications, the utility includes bill notification, payment, and outage management. In the coming years, mobile applications are to extend into connected buildings, smart homes, beginning the energy resources from digital management. As per Deloitte, the global battery storage capacity at customer sites is projected to rise by 516 GW by 2050.

Moreover, the utility customer dependent on traditional services has become moderately engaged with the digital utilities and energy providers generating their own electricity, attending to observe and manage their energy supply and consumption relating it to the real-time pricing information toward maximum energy use.

In retail offerings, service providers are expanding their services by allowing its customers to have more choice, control, and management. The expanding of services includes integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) into an already existing infrastructure for enhanced efficiency and grid reliability. This integration agrees to help in engaging customers who are more concerned about the environment. However, as per subject-matter experts, 76% utilities concerning the integration believe it to be risky for the future.

As renewable energy such as oil and gas, coal, petroleum, electricity, etc are consumed in a massive quantity; it is a fundamental responsibility of not just the authorities that provide utilities to its customers but also of the customers to consume it accordingly without harming the environment.

For such causes and to take greater care towards utilities, the providers are shifting towards digital utilities to keep a check on the supply, consumption, and control of utilities and energy. Digital utilities and energy is challenging to cope with but to have a secure future, it is all worth it.