Trimble Energy
  • Trimble Energy
    • News
    • Energize! blog
    • Professional Services
    • Esri Trimble Partnership
    • Contact Us
  • ELECTRIC UTILITIES
    • Network Design
    • Distribution Management
    • Outage Management Suite
    • Augmented Reality for Utilities
    • Maintenance
    • Mobile Solutions
    • Vegetation Management
    • Strategic Decision-Making
    • Network Optimizer
  • GAS UTILITIES
    • Tracking & Traceability Toolset
    • Smart Leak Survey
    • Remote Gas Pressure Monitoring
    • Trimble GasOMS
    • Gas Network Modeling & Utility GIS
    • Mobile Solutions
    • Augmented Reality for Gas Utilities
  • AUGMENTED REALITY
    • SiteVision Use Cases
    • SiteVision Options
    • For More Information
  • SUCCESS STORIES
  • Trimble Energy
    • News
    • Energize! blog
    • Professional Services
    • Esri Trimble Partnership
    • Contact Us
  • ELECTRIC UTILITIES
    • Network Design
    • Distribution Management
    • Outage Management Suite
    • Augmented Reality for Utilities
    • Maintenance
    • Mobile Solutions
    • Vegetation Management
    • Strategic Decision-Making
    • Network Optimizer
  • GAS UTILITIES
    • Tracking & Traceability Toolset
    • Smart Leak Survey
    • Remote Gas Pressure Monitoring
    • Trimble GasOMS
    • Gas Network Modeling & Utility GIS
    • Mobile Solutions
    • Augmented Reality for Gas Utilities
  • AUGMENTED REALITY
    • SiteVision Use Cases
    • SiteVision Options
    • For More Information
  • SUCCESS STORIES

ENERGIZE!

Power from behind the scenes

Future Networks - Utilities Out of Business?

2/28/2018

 
Looking at the development pace for alternative energy sources, it’s only a question of time when a disruptive innovation wipes over the utility business. So what could be done today to keep the utilities in business, and what does the regulation have to do with it?
​Working on his doctoral dissertation on the future of electrical networks, Tarmo Mere, Segment Director for Electric & Gas at Trimble Energy, became familiar with the backcasting method a couple of years ago and found it interesting also for his professional life. “It is a process, or a methodology, not just to design the imaginable future but also to organize today’s work in order to make the preferred kind of a future a reality,” Tarmo explains.
What Future Utilities should Avoid Today to Stay in Business
“Prognosing the future is always difficult - actually I consider it impossible - but in every industry, there is a vision of what the future beholds, based on the development trends and where we imagine they will take us,” Tarmo continues. Then, there are the current issues to be tackled, and a lot of the unknown between the current and the future. “But if you look both backwards and forward, you can see what you should probably do today to get to your imaginable future, or, actually, rather what you shouldn’t do, what could prevent you from getting to where you want to be.”

Food for thought: What Future Utilities should Avoid Today

Tarmo continues: “If we’re looking at the distribution network business right now, how the utilities are investing and how they’re developing their network and business, it’s very much dependent on what motivates them. And what motivates them today, in turn, comes through the regulation.” In many countries, the regulation sets notable importance on the reliability of the energy supply as well as the costs for the electricity distribution. However, if the regulation only focuses on raising motivation in these areas, it drives many network companies to over-invest, or to invest too much, too fast. Tarmo explains: “If you consider the payback time of the distribution network investments, it’s usually from 40 up to even 60 years. But considering how fast the technology is evolving right now, I’m sure it takes much less time for significant technological breakthroughs to change the industry.”

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Tarmo Mere
Tarmo Mere leads the Electric & Gas sales, consultation and partner management at Trimble Energy in Europe and the APAC region.

Tarmo comes with a solid experience in leadership in the utility business, joining Trimble in 2017 from Elektrilevi, the electric distribution company of Eesti Energia, where his last position was that of the CEO for 9 years. During Tarmo’s leadership, Elektrilevi developed into one of the best performing and managed distribution companies in Northern Europe.

​Of course, there are differences between countries in how the regulation takes the future aspect into account. For example, the RIIO regulation in the UK encourages utilities to future-smart decisions and network innovation by issuing half the financial benefit to the utility. Similarly in Finland, utilities above an average are rewarded, whereas those below the average face disadvantages. On the contrary, for example in Estonia, there are no incentives for the network companies to make better decisions - there’s only the current situation, the current price, and the current reliability. “So even though the regulator is to look at the current problems,” Tarmo ponders, “a lot depends also on the interest to look into the future. For the utilities, this means that to have a higher ability to shape a better future, to make something new happen, an effort should be made to affect the regulation - today.”

Tarmo suggests for utilities to consider more carefully where to invest right now, rather thinking about what not to do in order to shape an optimal future instead of focusing on resolving only the issues of today. Food for thought, indeed!

-Hanna

PS. Liked this story? There’s more to come from Tarmo - make sure to stay tuned and subscribe to our monthly newsletter - today!

You may also like:
Interview: Tying It All Together
Interview: How do you Know where to Invest?
    Insights into development of electricity distribution software. Offered to you by the most inspiring industry experts.

    Follow us:

    Categories

    All
    Asset Management
    Deployments
    Future
    Integrations
    Investment Planning
    Mobile Asset Management
    Network Design
    Network Optimization
    Network Structures
    Outage Management
    Partnership
    Regulation
    Utility Maintenance

Trimble Energy Contacts

Europe & Asia-Pacific
sales.electricgas@trimble.com
Tel: +358 30 66 110 
Americas
energy_info@trimble.com
Tel: +1 256 864 3400
Picture
Trimble Energy
​energy.trimble.com
Trimble Utilities & Public Administration
upa.trimble.com

Trimble Inc.
www.trimble.com

​​© Copyright Trimble Inc.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information • Trimble Privacy Center ​• Privacy Notice  •  Terms of Use • Cookie Notice ​