The Digital Utility: New challenges, capabilities, and opportunities June 2018 McKinsey’s Digital Utility Project Managers: Copyright © 2018 McKinsey & Compendium is written Dionne Abramson, Company. All rights reserved. by experts and practitioners in Jessica Adams the Digital Utility service This publication is not line, McKinsey & Company’s Editorial Board: intended to be used as Electric Power & Natural Dionne Abramson, Jessica the basis for trading in the Gas practice. Adams, Adrian Booth, Eelco shares of any company de Jong, Peter Peters or for undertaking any other To send comments complex or significant Editors: or request copies, email us: financial transaction with- Josh Rosenfield, Barr Seitz, McKinsey_on_Digital_ out consulting appropriate David Wigan, Jill Wilder
[email protected] professional advisers. Art Direction and Design: No part of this publication may Leff Communications be copied or redistributed in any form without the prior Cover Illustration: written consent of McKinsey Wenjie Dong/Getty Images & Company. The Digital Utility: New challenges, capabilities, and opportunities June 2018 Table of contents 5 6 Foreword Accelerating digital transformations: A playbook for utilities Utilities trying to reinvent themselves as digital enterprises have found it hard to scale up from digital pilots. Adopting digital ways of working, adding talent, and modernizing IT will hasten transformation. 40 48 57 Why utility boards should What every utility Cloud adoption to care about IT architecture CEO should know about accelerate IT Many utilities struggle to blockchain modernization match the customer Blockchain technology can The cloud is a means, not and commercial expectations streamline transactions an end. Success in set by digital leaders. along the utility value chain.