In the West, many public power utilities and their customers faced a 1-2-3 punch from the physical challenge of operating in a pandemic, the economic challenge of their communities and businesses under lockdown, and the horrifying effects of wildfires. Utilities rose to the challenge to keep delivering safe, reliable electrical service. I think there are many lessons to take from this year.
First, our industry safety culture and emergency management planning are extremely important to help utilities adapt quickly to daunting and ever-changing scenarios. In the case of the wildfires, it was inspiring to hear stories of heroic crews working around the clock in dangerous environments to clear debris and burnt poles and build new electrical systems.
Second, nimble and quick adoption of technology and modes of working is mission-critical. Changes arising out of the pandemic—like more remote work by some employees—may continue in some form even after life is back to normal. Flex work, increased remote sensors and controls, and evolution in the way customers interact with utilities have been a long time coming. The pandemic accelerated this.
Utilities had to ramp up quickly to get new systems in place. There is still a physical element to much of the operations work that runs a utility, and there is still a personal connection between utility employees and customers. But, as in many industries, technological innovations took a large leap forward in certain parts of the electric utility business.
Finally, even as utilities need to be cautious with their spending, they see that education and training—even in a virtual form—are more important than ever as their workforce faces new challenges and new systems to meet the quickly changing demands of utility management.