Having stronger digital, community and interpersonal presence drive utilities to higher customer satisfaction scores and improved relationships, according to JD Power’s annual electric utility business survey released Wednesday. Salt River Project earned its 17th straight top rating in the West Large Utility category, while MidAmerican Energy and Georgia Power were also repeat honorees for their regions. Duquesne Light, Entergy Texas and SMUD were scored highest among their regional peers.

Utilities are rapidly transforming by embracing new technologies and greater amounts of renewable energy resources, according to two new reports released recently by consulting firm Deloitte offering 2019 industry outlooks. The “Power and Utilities Outlook” report finds utilities are “jumping in the driver's seat” with developments and new designs for technology by using venture capital and start-up initiatives.

KCP&L and Westar Energy have signed new and extended existing contracts for smart grid deployment with Landis+Gyr. The news follows Westar’s recent installation of Landis+Gyr's Gridstream AMI solution, which includes an RF mesh network and second-generation smart meters for 700,000 electric customers.

Many utility tests of time varying rates have led to bill savings and lower peak loads, but California will soon be taking on the biggest test yet by putting over 20 million consumers on TOU rates. Properly designed and deployed TOU rates can help customers save money by shifting their use away from high-priced time periods. The rates can help utilities reduce their expenditures by lowering the highest demand they must meet.

The GridWise Alliance awarded last week an Outstanding Progress Award to the state of Ohio for efforts related to its grid modernization expansion efforts. GridWise cited, in particular, the efforts of PUCO for services rendered in the form of the PowerForward Roadmap. PowerForward was published earlier this year as a means of envisioning the future electric distribution grid. PUCO foresees that grid as an open-access platform giving customers ever greater control over their consumption, with the ability to roll in applications of their choosing.

Utilities are utilizing a range of new resources and connected devices to balance the grid and meet demand, drawing on everything from smart thermostats to large-scale batteries in order to most efficiently supply electricity. The next step, say utility experts, is the coordination of all these resources into an integrated strategy.