In brief / Power and Utilities

Powering your business decisions

Responding to
a transforming
business model
For Power and Utility organizations in Canada,
the immense and varied geography makes it
challenging to safely deliver reliable, cost effective
and sustainable electricity, gas and water. Today,
this is exacerbated by massive environmental,
political, social and technological change
driving unprecedented transformation across
the sector. Aging assets and talent, increasing
regulatory and stakeholder uncertainty, evolving
customer expectations, new sources of supply
and smart technology are all contributing to
a changing landscape for utility executives.
To navigate this challenging landscape Power
and Utility leaders need to have a strong vision to
deliver on their core competencies, including:
Asset and financial management
Continuous focus on operational efficiency
Robust human resource programs to
recruit and retain skilled talent
A strategic outlook on governance, risk
and stakeholder management
A proactive plan to manage a more
informed and demanding customer base

A strategic approach
to asset and financial
management
Utility companies are facing
numerous asset related hurdles including aging
assets, unstable credit conditions, nervous
stakeholders and volatile input costs. Assets
need to perform today like never before.
Increasing expectations for asset performance,
safety, output and reliability and decreasing
maintenance costs and extending asset longevity
now need to be balanced. A strong linkage from
operational asset management to financial asset
management is critical to optimize asset lifecycle
management and ensure insight and control over
capital projects.

Attracting and retaining

a skilled workforce
Typical Utility demographics
show up to 40 % of the workforce
at or near eligible retirement age. This is further
exacerbated by the emergence and use of new
technologies, which require specific skillsets both
in the back office and in the field.

Transforming the
utility supply chain
Leading companies are creating
significant value from their
supply chain function as they ramp up capital
and maintenance spend. Functions such as
procurement, materials management and
fleet management can now effectively help
balance cost reduction, service delivery and
risk management to improve efficiency and
effectiveness. Improvements in technology, skills
and processes are enabled by a new, strategic
focus on how to partner better with both internal
customers and suppliers and how to use metrics
and analytics to improve performance.

The drive for

greater efficiency
Increasingly squeezed between
demands for better quality
and improved customer responsiveness and
pressure to reduce operational costs, utilities
are putting a greater emphasis on efficiency.
Productivity improvement presents a significant
opportunity to respond to the changing industry
environment. This can be achieved in all facets
of a utilitys business functions, including
capital project management, internal systems
and customer service. This must be delivered,
however, without compromising safety,
compliance requirements or customer service.

Changing customers
and their expectations
Utilities are being forced
to revise marketing,
communication and field service approaches
as customer demands increase. Customers now
expect proactive communication around new
services as well as strategies to control personal
energy consumption. Social media presents
both challenges and opportunities, with
customers expecting utilities to engage with
them in new ways.

New technology,
new threats
Investments in digital
technologies throughout the
electricity supply chain (such as smart grids)
have given rise to new cyber threats. As a result,
a gap between the industrys strength of cyber
risk capability and the vulnerability landscape
has emerged. Determining the appropriate level
of capability and corresponding investment to
mitigate cyber threats is therefore now essential.

Upgrading IT systems
Delayed investment in backend
IT tools and systems is evident
industry-wide. As new
technologies become available
and upgrades required, companies will need
to invest in systems such as enterprise resource
planning (ERP), time tracking and enterprise
asset management (EAM). This has the potential
to increase productivity and effectiveness, with a
direct bottom line result.

www.pwc.com/ca/power-utilities

In brief / Power and Utilities

Powering your business decisions

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How we can help

Energy transformation
The impact on the power sector business model
PwCs 13th Annual Global Power & Utilities Survey

Utilities spotlight
PwCs video series explores the issues driving a
transforming power and utilities business model.

We o er extensive industry knowledge and experience,

deep technical expertise and trusted relationships with key
industry and government networks. To help you achieve
your short and long-term business objectives, we provide
Consulting, Audit, Assurance, Deals and Tax services across
the value chain; from suppliers, generators, distribution
and transmission companies to retailers and regulators.

Download the report at

www.pwc.com/gx/PowerUtilitiesSurvey

A fast changing,
technologydriven future
Hear more commentary
about the results from
PwCs 13th Annual Power
& Utilities Survey.

Lets have a conversation

Lana Paton
National Power & Utilities Leader
+1 416 869 8700

Responding
to evolving
energy needs
Lana Paton and Brian
Poth outline key issues
currently facing the
Canadian utilities sector.

lana.paton@ca.pwc.com
ca.linkedin.com/pub/lana-paton/2/a17/469
Alistair Bryden
Partner, Consulting
+1 403 509 7354
alistair.e.bryden@ca.pwc.com
ca.linkedin.com/pub/alistair-bryden/11/540/228

Watch all the videos at

www.pwc.com/ca/UtilitiesSpotlight

Rahul Kohli
Partner, Consulting
+1 403 781 1848
rahul.kohli@ca.pwc.com
ca.linkedin.com/pub/rahul-kohli/0/543/bb
PwC has a team of power and utilities experts working from coast
to coast ready to help you. Connect with a local PwC business
advisor at www.pwc.com/ca/PowerUtilities-contact

www.pwc.com/ca/power-utilities
2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.3878-01 0114