Coronavirus U.S. Gas & Electric Market Impact Study

Boston, Massachusetts – June 2, 2021 – Skipping Stone, a global energy consulting and market services firm, released today the results of their follow-up study on Coronavirus impacts on energy markets. The original study conducted in March 2020, when COVID-19 was new, measured what companies planned to do in response to stay-at-home orders and other societal changes. A year later, in April 2021, a follow-up survey to the same companies measures the differences between what was planned and what happened.

One of the largest business impacts of COVID-19 has been the shift to a home-based work environment. By the end of March 2020, 72% of energy workers were already working from home. In April 2021, only 10% of that same workforce has returned to working at the company facilities. Post pandemic energy technology-related companies anticipate over half their workers will remain at home, and even utilities expect as many as 24% of their workforce will be working from home.

In March 2020, 76% thought the pandemic would be over by the end of 2020. Obviously, that did not happen. In the current survey, 28% believe things are back to normal, while 42% believe normalcy will occur by the end of 2021 and 19% predict it will be sometime in 2022.

A variety of cost-cutting measures were planned in March 2020, such as layoffs and cutting or delaying projects, among others, as companies anticipated severe financial impacts. Fortunately, the number of companies executing these plans was smaller than expected. Results are fairly positive as 23% of those surveyed are back to hiring and 30% have reinstated or started delayed projects.