In the article From volume to value: Why utilities MUST change their business model (and one way to get started), Jesse Berst introduces an approach that goes from one end of a continuum, to the other, going through three roles that he calls infrastructure on one extreme, intermediary somewhere in the middle, and innovator in the opposite end.
He clarifies that “The volume-to-value continuum is a metaphor. In the real world, of course, the boundaries between these roles will blur; other new roles will appear. The three roles are not mutually exclusive. It is quite possible to imagine a utility that innovates one or two services, while also acting as an intermediary for several more, while also maintaining its traditional infrastructure role.”
Next is a hyperlinked version that merges the comments “Continuum Versus Discrete Smart Grid Evolution” and “The Second Generation Retailer is Just a Tech Company“ that I posted under Jesse’s article.
Hi Jesse,
Thank you for repeating this interesting continuum approach, which I respect a lot. Next, I will contrast it with the EWPC-AF discrete approach that emerged through me. A lot of the though behind the continuum also applies to the discrete approach.
I wonder if the business concept “stuck in the middle” would apply, leading to the traditional low cost and high value, either/or discrete polarization.
This is how the power industry whole gets split in two highly cohesive subsystems that are lightly coupled among them:
1) A low cost wires-only T&D (Smart) Grid regulated utility. This is critical, but it no longer owns the retail customer interface.
2) A high value innovative Enterprise
That' s what has been emerging through me as the EWPC-AF, which I said a year ago may be renamed as the Value Added Electricity Architecture Framework (VAE-AF).
3) Utilities should not be forbidden of trying the intermediary role as a transition tactic, but I suspect it is a losing “stuck in the middle” strategy in the long run.
Next is a list of this year EWPC post entries, most recent first, after about half a year of inactivity.
