A utility is defined as an organisation supplying the community with electricity, gas, water, or sewerage. While this list could probably now stretch to the internet and telecommunications, safe, efficient and reliable power (the rate at which energy is transferred) underpins society.
But how this energy is produced, transferred and used as electricity is now facing an additional question over its impact on the climate.
The climate change question affects the dynamic of producing more energy from the cheapest source to one of efficiency and carbon emissions. The electric grid is central to this rebalancing as the power can be sourced from renewables, such as solar, marine and wind turbines, and used in the same way as from gas, coal or nuclear plants. But unlike the existing infrastructure, renewables can be more widely distributed and often require storage, making the infrastructure vulnerable to attack.
May’s flotation of Smart Wires, a US-based software provider to monetise grid capacity, alongside a raft of venture deals in the past year show the increased attention to the industry and utilities, such as National Grid, moving beyond pilots to deeper collaboration and partnerships.
The commercial relationships are as important as the equity funding and, after a long 10 to 20 years of promise, the signs are now encouraging that the renewable energy sources coming online will be transmitted to the customers who want to use them.
The changes in the energy industry among producers, utilities and end consumers is creating a febrile ecosystem and upheaval unseen since the original electricity wars more than a century ago, with greater venture investing from National Grid Partners among other utility peers, such as Acario Innovation from Tokyo Gas.
Oil and gas corporate venturing groups are some of the most active in rethinking their role and, as GCV Analytics uncovered on p. 13, participated in 77 deals over the first six months of this year, which were worth an estimated $3.95bn.
This rate of investment has picked up and combined with impact or sustainable investments by Amazon, Microsoft and other companies that are heavy energy users means there are promising times for people and the planet.
