How a 1980’s Hit Describes the Energy Industry Today
ScottMadden, Inc., one of North America’s leading management consulting firms specializing in energy, will soon release its fall 2020 issue of the ScottMadden Energy Industry Update. For more than a decade, the Energy Industry Update has served as a catalyst for strategic discussion, debate, and decisions. More than 10,000 executive leaders rely on it for the most important trends and thought-provoking insights.
Themed, “The Energy Industry Update: Running Up That Hill,” ScottMadden’s upcoming report will share some of the latest industry trends related to:
- Net-zero carbon emissions goals and planning
- Current and potential approaches to making, transporting, and using hydrogen-based energy
- Recent noteworthy developments in U.S. wholesale energy markets
The report will also examine regulatory responses to COVID-19 and the benefits and development of offshore wind energy.
So, what does Kate Bush’s art pop hit of 1985 have to do with energy in 2020? In the midst of and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, many efforts in the energy industry can feel like running uphill. Electricity markets have encouraged technological innovation and asset turnover in the power generation sector and have helped lower power prices. However, differences in policy and commodity preferences across states, stakeholders, and federal and state governments have pushed markets to evolve in ways unanticipated when they were formed. Separately, the pandemic is forcing state utilities and regulators to answer tough questions and prepare strategies for recovery. How can they help customers? How much financial protection should be provided for utilities?
Notwithstanding the current “run up that hill,” certain initiatives are gaining momentum. More than a dozen U.S. electric utilities have announced 100% clean energy commitments, and several states have enacted similar legislation. Many companies with net-zero carbon emissions goals are shifting focus from their long-term objectives to near-term steps to get there. There has been growing discussion of using hydrogen as an energy carrier across a number of applications. Both electric and gas industries are studying and testing hydrogen’s potential role in a future energy system. Offshore wind energy offers unique advantages, some limitations, and is also gaining traction in the United States.
“COVID-19 has impacted our world and the energy industry in many ways. This edition of the EIU, themed ‘Running Up That Hill,’ picks up where our last edition left off in focusing on how the industry is responding and attempting to do extraordinary things in extraordinary times,” says Cristin Lyons, partner and energy practice leader at ScottMadden.
To receive your copy of this complimentary report, subscribe here, or to download the prior issue, click here. An advance copy of the Update will be available to the media prior to the release date. For more details, please contact us.
About ScottMadden’s Energy Practice
We know energy from the ground up. Since 1983, we have served as energy consultants for hundreds of utilities, large and small, including all of the top 20. We focus on Transmission & Distribution, the Grid Edge, Generation, Energy Markets, Rates & Regulation, Enterprise Sustainability, and Corporate Services. Our broad, deep utility expertise is not theoretical—it is experience based. We have helped our clients develop and implement strategies, improve critical operations, reorganize departments and entire companies, and implement myriad initiatives.