Digital Transformation in Energy and Utilities

What Is Digital Transformation in Utilities?

Digital transformation in utilities is the integration of digital technologies, data, and process change across the energy sector, electric, gas, and water providers alike, to improve customer service, grid management, and workforce efficiency. Effective digital strategies for the utilities industry connect the digital platforms every provider already runs, so customers, employees, and regulators work from the same real-time data.

A customer information system (CIS) holds every account, meter reading, and bill. Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is the network of smart meters that replaced manual reads. A distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) coordinates rooftop solar, batteries, and other distributed energy resources, an essential piece of modern energy management. Digital transformation across the utility sector succeeds or fails on how well these platforms exchange data.

Water and sanitation utility companies share the same problem, with one addition: analytics that track non-revenue water, the treated water that never generates a bill.

Why Does Digital Transformation Matter Now in the Utility Sector?

Three forces reshape the power sector in 2026.

Affordability is breaking satisfaction scores. The J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study put overall satisfaction at 499 on a 1,000-point scale, the lowest in the study's history. Average monthly bills rose 34% between 2020 and 2025, reaching $189 for the year and $206 in Q4. The American Customer Satisfaction Index put U.S. energy utilities at 73 out of 100 in 2026⁶. U.S. gas utilities recorded their lowest satisfaction since 2015⁷. Digital tools have to deliver plain-language transparency around energy usage and rates.

The energy transition demands two-way engagement. Renewable energy, electric vehicles, battery storage, and demand response programs need continuous customer communication. Two way power flows from distributed renewable energy sources mean the grid has to accept power from customers as well as send it. Renewable energy growth and digital transformation move together.

Regulators tighten cost scrutiny. An inbound billing call costs a utility company roughly $10². McKinsey found a typical utility with 2 million customers fields 2 to 3 million calls a year at a cost of $20 million to $40 million, in the same range once divided out per call³. For a U.S. utility with 500,000 meters, preventable calls run over $1.4 million a year; past one million meters, over $4 million. Rate regulators examine operations and maintenance spend line by line, which makes cost-to-serve a regulatory compliance conversation.

What Are the Six Priorities for Utility Digital Transformation Leaders?

1. Customer self-service and billing transparency

Shifting a $10 phone interaction to a digital transaction that costs fractions of a cent is the strongest deflection argument in the utilities industry. Cost savings alone will not lift satisfaction scores, though. Transparency does. J.D. Power research shows scores averaging 548 points when customers recall proactive communication from their utility, against 477 when they do not. Self-service portals that explain energy usage anomalies and let customers set up payment arrangements convert the sector's biggest cost center into its biggest trust builder.

2. Smart grids, smart meters, and data analytics

Smart grids and smart meters are deployed across most mature markets. The gap is what happens to the data. Interval readings sitting in a metering system create no value. Real time monitoring at the meter itself detects tampering and power quality issues, and edge data analytics processes readings locally so the network is not flooded with raw telemetry⁸. Utilities that surface real time data in customer views close the loop between infrastructure investment and experience.

3. Operational efficiency and cost-to-serve

Legacy systems in the energy industry are expensive to maintain. Hard-coded architectures block products the transition needs: time-of-use pricing, EV tariffs, and demand response enrollment all stall when the billing engine cannot represent them. Modern digital tools clear that technical debt, cut operational costs, and open up new revenue streams the old stack ruled out.

4. Grid modernization and the energy transition

Grid modernization and customer engagement are converging as digital technologies reshape how the grid is planned and run. ENGIE's Italian operation makes the strategic case. The company spans the full energy chain, from renewable generation and 650,000 public lighting points to service for 1 million customers across 350 municipalities, and it built its transformation around one platform serving residential, business, and public-sector customers instead of three separate systems. A bill simulator inside the customer portal pulls live consumption data so people can model their own costs before a bill arrives. The pattern holds beyond ENGIE: an energy transition spanning multiple customer segments works better on one flexible platform than on three separate systems built for each audience.

Digital twins, virtual replicas of grid assets fed by real time monitoring, are used for predictive maintenance and day-to-day grid management. Planners run scenarios for renewable integration, storm response, or load growth before committing capital. Digital twins also improve workforce training by letting technicians practice on a simulated substation before touching a real one.

5. Regulatory compliance and data governance

Utilities answer to overlapping frameworks. In North America, NERC CIP (Critical Infrastructure Protection standards) governs cybersecurity for the bulk electric system, so utilities running critical infrastructure carry direct compliance risk. In the EU, NIS2 imposes broader cybersecurity obligations. GDPR and national privacy laws govern customer data everywhere. Artificial intelligence adds a governance layer: AI systems generating customer content need human review before publication.

6. Workforce management and enablement

The energy industry faces a talent cliff. ManpowerGroup's 2026 Global Talent Shortage Survey found 72% of employers worldwide have difficulty finding skilled talent, and energy and utilities is among the hardest-hit sectors, with demand for electrical engineers and renewable energy specialists outpacing supply as the industry pivots to clean energy⁹. Field crews often work in rural, subterranean, or storm-damaged areas with no cellular signal. Modern digital tools for energy operations have to work offline first: technicians download work orders, GIS maps, and safety checklists at the depot, complete inspections while disconnected, then sync when they get back to coverage. That workflow speeds work order closure and helps improve efficiency across field energy operations.

Where Do Utility Digital Transformation Programs Stall?

The obstacles repeat across the utility sector, whether the company runs electricity, gas, or water.

The common thread is organizational, not technological. Composable digital platforms reduce the friction because IT can manage security and infrastructure at its own pace while customer teams iterate on experiences independently.

What Do Successful Utility Digital Transformations Look Like?

Outage communication at UK Power Networks (United Kingdom). Chartwell analyzed more than 17,000 post-event surveys and found an accurate estimated time of restoration improves outage satisfaction by up to 30%¹⁰. UK Power Networks, the distributor for London and the South East, built its outage response on that evidence. Its Powercast open API streams real-time outage data to partners, including an EV charging platform that alerts drivers whose home chargers will be affected¹¹. Two-way SMS covers over a million customers on its Priority Services Register. When Storm Eunice pushed call volumes up 1,300% to 24,000 calls in a day, that digital deflection kept the contact center standing¹². It is one of the clearest examples of digital innovation in the power sector.

Self-service adoption at BSES Delhi (India). BSES Delhi, a joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure and the Government of NCT of Delhi, distributes power to millions of customers across the Indian capital. It rebuilt its public website, self-service portal, and mobile app on one platform, and online bill payments jumped from 30% to 80% of transactions while development resources dropped by 20%. The lesson: when the portal actually mirrors the customer journey instead of just the billing system, adoption follows.

Examples of Digital Transformation in Energy and Utilities

The following utility companies have used Liferay DXP to modernize customer experience, employee experience, and operational efficiency without replacing the core billing and metering systems their operations rely on.

"This solution delivers an engaging user experience and homogenizes our complex back-end systems." — Deborah Banks, Director at Spire (USA).

Which Technologies Enable Digital Transformation in Utilities?

Integration and API platforms

Every meaningful digital transformation in the utilities industry depends on data from systems that were never designed to talk to each other. SAP IS-U and Oracle CC&B for billing, meter data management, GIS, outage management, and DERMS all sit in different vendor stacks, often layered on aging infrastructure. An API-first integration layer unifies them behind consistent services.

Customer identity and self-service portals

A customer portal with single sign-on, granular permissions, and real time data on billing and energy usage is the front door for payments, outage reporting, program enrollment, and prepaid top-ups. It is the digital solutions layer customers actually see.

AI and machine learning with governance built in

Three utility AI use cases work today when governance is in place. Edge analytics at the meter detects tampering and power quality issues locally. Predictive outage communication cross-references weather forecasts, asset sensors, and meter readings to stage customer alerts before a storm hits. AI translation localizes safety notices, with workflow routing each output through legal review before publication. An AI orchestration layer accessing unified data through governed APIs keeps all three auditable. AI systems also feed predictive maintenance models that flag failing transformers or pipes.

Digital twins and predictive maintenance

Simulated replicas of grid and energy management assets, typically running on cloud platforms, let planners test scenarios and schedule predictive maintenance based on real time monitoring. Utilities using digital twins report faster fault diagnosis and better capital planning. Digital twins also pinpoint aging infrastructure at highest risk of failure.

Cloud computing and deployment choice

Grid operators have legitimate reasons to keep some workloads under direct control. Cloud computing across SaaS, PaaS, and self-hosted deployment models lets a utility match each workload to its security posture. Cloud platforms also cut the operational costs of running data centers utilities were never designed to operate, and give energy management and analytics teams a common environment. Well-run cloud platforms are now standard for many energy companies rolling out new digital transformation programs across the energy sector.

Low-code platforms

The energy sector faces the same digital skills shortage as every infrastructure industry. A low-code platform lets business teams build forms, workflows, and program enrollment journeys without waiting on scarce developer capacity.

How Do Digital Transformation Requirements Vary by Region?

India's Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme deserves its own line: replacing 250 million meters roughly equals every meter in the U.S. and the EU combined, and its success depends on consumer communication in local languages plus airtight billing integration. It is the single largest digital transformation program in the utilities industry today.

How Does Liferay Enable Digital Transformation in Utilities?

The Liferay Digital Experience Platform is built for the structural reality of the sector. Utilities cannot pause billing, metering, or outage management to modernize, so digital transformation has to connect what already exists rather than replace it. Liferay supports more than 30 energy and utilities customers.

An alternative to rip-and-replace

Spire (USA) ran SAP and Oracle billing systems side by side. Rather than consolidating them first, the utility unified the customer experience above them. Liferay's service layer connected both data models behind one portal, delivering real-time billing data, energy usage charts, and self-service tools to 1.7 million customers while the core systems kept running.

Self-service that reduces cost-to-serve

Every interaction moved from the phone to the portal converts a $10 cost into a near-zero one, and lifts satisfaction scores when the digital transformation delivers real transparency on any device.

One platform for customers, employees, and partners

Techem (Germany) serves property managers and tenants from a single portal, with role-based access giving each audience the data it is entitled to see. The same pattern powers employee intranets that give service teams and field crews the information customers expect them to have.

Compliance-ready by design

Role-based permissions, audit trails, and enterprise security controls are native to the platform. Techem's GDPR posture and BRE's (UK) consolidation from 81 sites to 9 rest on the same foundation: fewer systems, clearer permissions, one governed point of control.

Ready to Modernize Your Utility's Digital Services? Connect with Liferay's energy and utilities team to discuss your organization's legacy systems, compliance requirements, and transformation goals. Request a Demo Explore the Energy & Utilities Platform

Frequently Asked Questions

What is digital transformation in the utilities industry?

Digital transformation in the utilities industry is the use of digital technologies, data, and process change across electric, gas, and water providers to improve customer service, operational efficiency, and grid or network management. Successful digital strategies connect existing billing and operational platforms rather than replacing them.

What is digital transformation in the electricity industry?

Digital transformation in the electricity industry modernizes how power is generated, distributed, and sold. It includes smart grids that manage two way power flows from distributed solar and battery storage, real time monitoring across power plants and transmission networks, and customer-facing digital solutions for demand response and EV charging. Paired with renewable energy, it also drives measurable reductions in carbon emissions.

Why do utilities have low customer satisfaction scores?

Rising costs are the main driver. U.S. electric utility satisfaction fell to 499 out of 1,000 in 2025, the lowest ever recorded by J.D. Power, after average bills rose 34% since 2020. Bill anxiety cancels out digital improvements unless those tools deliver transparency about energy usage and rates. Utilities that communicate proactively score about 70 points higher.

How much does poor self-service cost a utility?

Inbound billing calls cost around $10 each. A U.S. utility with 500,000 meters can spend over $1.4 million a year on preventable billing calls; past one million meters, it can exceed $4 million. A 12-month delay at 100,000 preventable calls per month leaves about $12 million in cost savings on the table.

How do smart meters and smart grids support digital transformation?

Smart meters and smart grids provide the interval data that powers customer usage views, time-of-use pricing, outage detection, and demand response. Their value depends on integration: data has to flow from the metering system into billing and customer experience platforms. Edge analytics processes readings at the meter for real-time tamper alerts.

What does digital transformation mean for water utilities?

Water utilities use digital transformation to improve customer self-service, digitize field operations, and cut non-revenue water loss through analytics. Embasa (Brazil), which serves 368 of Bahia's 417 municipalities, built an integration-led customer portal with a roadmap for video appointments and live chat. Water utilities also use predictive maintenance and digital twins to prioritize pipe replacement.

What is the difference between grid modernization and digital transformation?

Grid modernization upgrades physical infrastructure: substations, sensors, distributed energy integration, and advanced metering. Digital transformation is broader, covering how customers, employees, and systems interact. Programs like demand response need both to deliver value.

References

1. J.D. Power — 2025 U.S. Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study: https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2025-us-electric-utility-residential-customer-satisfaction-study
2. Convey — Improving Residential Electric Utility Satisfaction in 2026: https://www.goconvey.com/improving-residential-electric-utility-satisfaction-in-2026/
3. McKinsey & Company — Transforming Interactive Voice Response Systems in Utilities: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/electric-power-and-natural-gas/our-insights/transforming-interactive-voice-response-systems-in-utilities
4. J.D. Power — Powering Up Performance: Utility Industry Best Practices: https://blog.jdpa.com/globalbusinessinsights/powering-up-performance-utility-industry-best-practices-you-can-use-today
5. Probus — Smart Metering Rollout Under RDSS: https://probus.io/smart-metering-rollout-rdss-what-every-discom-needs-to-know-2026/
6. ACSI — Energy Utilities Study 2026: https://theacsi.com/news-and-resources/press-releases/2026/03/24/press-release-energy-utilities-study-2026/
7. J.D. Power — 2024 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study: https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2024-gas-utility-residential-customer-satisfaction-study/
8. Adelat — Accelerating Smart Metering (DSO Brief): https://adelat.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/DSO-Brief-Advanced-Metering-Infrastructure-EN.pdf
9. ManpowerGroup — 2026 Global Talent Shortage Survey: https://www.manpowergroup.com/en/insights/2026-global-talent-shortage
10. Chartwell — ETRs Can Improve Customer Outage Experience by up to 30%: https://chartwellinc.com/blog/etrs-can-improve-customer-outage-experience-by-up-to-30/
11. UK Power Networks — Powercast: https://innovation.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/projects/powercast
12. CCMA — UK Power Networks, a Shining Example of Great Customer Experience: https://ccma.org.uk/insight/uk-power-networks-a-shining-example-of-great-customer-experience/
13. Prayas (Energy Group) — Smart Metering in India: A Work in Progress: https://energy.prayaspune.org/power-perspectives/smart-metering-in-india-a-work-in-progress