For years there have been calls for the utility sector to adapt to new technologies and opportunities and embrace innovation. Energy companies have been risk-averse as they focus on compliance with complex regulatory regimes, optimizing rate-payer costs, and addressing immediate reliability concerns. While those factors are still ever-present in the energy industry, the emerging energy landscape driven by Net Zero ambitions and the explosion of distributed energy resources on the grid has hammered home the importance, transformation, and modernization.
As this era for utilities, the most technology-focused and forward-looking in the sector’s history, marches on, agreeing that we must embrace change does not make the process straightforward or obvious. Looking to experts on these new technologies and their proper deployment remains critical. With that in mind, Energy Central constantly seeks to add to its Network of Experts, especially in the Digital Utility Group.
For the next entry in our Energy Central Power Perspectives “Welcome Your New Expert Interview Series,” we’re thrilled to welcome Digital Utility Expert Michael Foley. Michael is the Senior Business Development Manager at Wipro, who brings nearly three decades of experience to the table.
Matt Chester: Thanks for being one of our experts, Michael. Please tell us about your background in the industry.
Michael Foley: In 1995, I was approached by the CEO of Direct Energy, who wanted to sell natural gas in the United States to commercial and residential customers. He spoke to me because he had a real problem. He knew how to acquire natural gas but did not know how to handle the billing and customer interactions that take place when starting to do business with end users. He wanted to tap into my background and experience in the bank card industry and how to deploy a customer billing system.
I live in Georgia, and coincidentally the Georgia natural gas market was deregulating. In months, I went from an idea to a business plan. Six months later, I launched a business to do the back-office functions—the billing customer services and the systems needed to support retail gas marketers in Georgia. That company grew rapidly, and in 2002 we sold the company to what was then Alliance Data, today Vertex One.
That experience put me at the forefront of the utility industry, doing things that utilities told me they would never do, such as outsourcing. From there, I joined IBM and became intrigued and involved in many smart cities and AMI projects on the East Coast. I have worked with large investor-owned utilities, retail energy marketers, and municipal utilities for more than 28 years. During my career, I’ve interacted with most major utilities in one form or fashion.
MC: You’ve tried to help energy companies embrace data and digital for many years and across multiple organizations. How have you seen the prioritization of utilities with respect to these technologies change over time?
MF: From 1995 to 2000, most utilities embarked on a journey to prepare for Y2K. This event was forthcoming, and companies spent a lot of moneymaking system changes to accommodate the expected impact of Y2K. As we all know now, nothing really happened. The market paused for a few years because systems were upgraded and enhanced.
In the decade following 2000, utilities rolled out ERP systems to drive integration of business processes across the Utilities Value Chain, including ERP for corporate functions, enterprise asset management, customer information, and billing systems. Utilities also introduced new technology to improve the meter reading process. This new technology was a big change for utilities, launching the movement to AMI.
Now utilities were struggling with what to do with the daily data from the smart meters’ thousands of meter readings, which introduced new challenges. What to do with all this data? Who owns the data? Who should have access? How do we deal with Big Data? This challenge was a turning point in the industry. During this last decade, we have seen significant and pivotal changes in technologies that have become mainstream, including cloud computing, the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Renewable Energy.
I view this as the gateway for transformation and digitalization for the energy industry.
These changes have led to this digital moment. Digital transformation and modernization are words that utilities use today as they change their business model from what it was for the last 100 years to what we hope it will be well into the future. Digitalization is taking over the utility industry today by improving customer experience, digitalizing monitoring and operations of the grid, and taking advantage of IOT to improve the overall reliability and resilience of the grid.
MC: If you could offer advice to the utility industry broadly about their approach in the coming years at this critical juncture of digitalization , what would it be?
MF: Matt, I have two points that I would like to suggest. One, utility leadership has typically been well-educated engineers. Today we’re seeing changes as utilities are recruiting talent from other industries. They're not better or smarter, but they come with new and fresh ideas and bring new levels of experience to the utility. The traditional utility model is changing and adopting new and different technologies and capabilities that may not have existed in the past.
Second, utilities today must constantly be looking at what is next. How do they modernize their business? How do they reduce costs? How do they improve service to their customers? Because, in most cases today, people take their utility companies for granted. The utilities cannot sit back. They’ve got to be at the forefront of change. Change is now of utmost importance to me and should be top of the mind for every utility executive today.
MC: When assisting power companies with new technologies, how do you help them balance the risk and benefits of various options?
MF: I have never worked for a utility, but I have had the opportunity to help many utilities solve complex business problems. I suggested that you start with a technology assessment that is structured and comprehensive to evaluate all options and consider the end goals and objectives to be achieved when deploying new technology. All aspects should be considered as part of the evaluation, including functional fitment, technology fitment, technology evolution roadmap, technology maturity, industry adoption, and customization capabilities. Our technology consulting teams bring a structured approach to this assessment and can help utilities to realize and achieve their business goals.
MC: Why did you feel compelled to get more involved in the Energy Central Community? And what value do you hope to bring to your peers on the platform?
MF: I hope that some of my experiences can benefit the Energy Central Community. What is most important to me is learning and sharing experiences with others. Energy Central is a force in the marketplace today, and I’m honored to be part of the organization.
Thanks to Michael Foley for joining me for this interview and providing insights and expertise to the Energy Central community. You can trust that Michael will be available for you to reach out and connect, ask questions, and more as an Energy Central member, so be sure to make him feel welcome when you see him across the platform.
The other expert interviews we’ve completed in this series can be read here, and if you are interested in becoming an expert, you can reach out to me or apply here.