The utilities sector is currently facing challenges that make reliability more difficult than ever. From extreme weather events to aging infrastructure and cybersecurity threats, utility companies need operational resilience.

The good news? With guidance and support from experienced consultants, utility organizations can strengthen resilience while positioning themselves for sustainable growth.

What is operational resilience in utilities?

For utility companies, operational resilience describes reshaping their existing infrastructure and practices to anticipate, withstand, recover from and adapt to modern-day disruptions. To achieve ultimate resilience, the organization needs to be able to continuously deliver its critical services during disruptions.

How does resilience assist with growth in the utilities and energy markets?

  • Business and IT alignment: Establishing shared, strategic goals requires the entire company, including IT, to work in tandem. This necessitates that both IT and business teams focus on collaboration throughout the process, from collecting and interpreting data to making final decisions, thereby strengthening your organization's overall environment.
  • Data management: Refocusing efforts on resilience drives growth and improvement in data management and analytics. To stay ahead of potential disruptions, companies must increase their data volume and require near-real-time data to gain a deeper understanding of the situation and enable swift decision-making.
  • Technology innovation: The need for utility and energy resilience drives inventive processes and programs, from cutting-edge technologies such as smart grids and digitalization to creating new business opportunities within a company.
  • Customer experience: Customers look for reliable and clean energy solutions. If your utility infrastructure is designed to avoid extended outages, the company-client relationship will grow stronger.
  • AI in utilities: Implementing various AI solutions offers opportunities to enhance grid resilience through data-driven approaches that proactively predict potential disruptions, enabling companies to recover more quickly. The combination of predictive analytics and real-time monitoring enables AI models to help build more resilient energy infrastructure in the future.

What are the strategies to build resilience in utilities?

Building utilities and grid resilience requires a multi-faceted approach . With proper updates to utility infrastructure, enhancements to cyber defense, diversified supply chains and leveraging of AI technology, a company can learn to withstand and work through unexpected shocks and stresses.

Best strategies to build utility grid resilience:

  • Update infrastructure
  • Integrate new technology
  • Enhance cybersecurity
  • Implementing DERs

Updating physical utility infrastructure

The first step to creating utility growth opportunities and solidifying grid resilience is to update physical infrastructure. The vast, interconnected network of power plants, transmission lines, substations and transformers responsible for generating and transmitting electricity is the heart of your company. Hardening these systems against threats helps improve reliability during disruptions. Organizations should consider key strategies to update their utility infrastructure, including:

  • Automated fault detection and service restoration (FLISR): Building on AMI infrastructure, automated systems use sensors, switches and communication networks to automatically detect issues and reroute power, resulting in a self-healing grid.
  • Energy storage and microgrids: Driven by falling battery prices and government incentives, energy storage and microgrids decentralize power, boost resilience and ease peak loads to create smaller, more self-sufficient and resilient grids that separate during outages and enhance local resilience.

Integrating new technology and AI models

Technology is crucial to grid and energy resilience—in fact, experts have developed AI tools to support utility company growth. Technology and AI models help you manage climate risks and predict, prevent and reroute outages as they happen, rather than having to act in the aftermath. AI can be applied across the company, from optimizing grid management and integrating renewables to managing assets and improving customer service.

Enhancing cybersecurity measures

When building grid and energy resilience, cybersecurity is a crucial, often overlooked, aspect of the utilities industry . The power, water and gas sectors are critical to communities, making them prime targets for threats. To build resilience against these threats, you'll want to take proactive measures, such as monitoring AI in utilities, safeguarding sensitive customer data and breaking down silos between IT and operational technology.

Distributing energy resources

Distributed energy resources, or DERs, move your organization away from relying on large power plants and focus instead on smaller, local sources, such as rooftop solar power or local wind. This enables a two-way flow from consumers to the grid, rather than the traditional model of utilities to consumers. Implementing these programs can help lower energy costs, enhance grid resilience, improve overall efficiency amid challenges, and empower consumers to take control of their utility use.

Examples of DERs:

  • Solar panels
  • Battery storage systems
  • Electric vehicles
  • Small wind turbines
  • Fuel cells
  • CHP units

Our experience in the utility industry in action

We offer expertly constructed solutions to build operational resilience and aid in utility growth opportunities. Whether it's increasing customer satisfaction and improving outage response or staying up to date with popular clean energy alternatives, our experts are prepared to take your utility company into the new age.

How to build a sustainable energy resilience with CGI OpenGrid360

CGI OpenGrid360 offers a suite of interconnected solutions to build utility resilience in electric, gas and water companies. This comprehensive digital platform provides a unified view of your networks to help you ensure network responsiveness, increase operational efficiency, manage and control renewable energy sources and support new services. With this utilities solution , informed decision-making has never been easier.

Manage the uptick in clean energy sources with CGI OpenGrid DERMS

CGI OpenGrid DERMS (Distributed Energy Resource Management System) is a software platform designed to help electric utility companies modernize existing grids to be able to handle and control the growing number of clean energy sources. This solution allows real-time regulation and optimization of assets, resulting in a more consistent performance across the grid.

Work towards utility growth opportunities with us today

Partnering with us enables utility organizations to go beyond day-to-day reliability. With support from our expert consultants, you can develop resilient, adaptable energy systems designed for long-term, sustainable growth.