For the past decade, utility industry leaders have been focused on creating a smarter grid, which emphasized connecting aging assets and infrastructure to sensors and communication networks. However, a true transformation is needed to build a system that simultaneously works for customers, society, and energy providers. This transformation is the creation of a digital grid. A digital utility will be customer-centric, resilient, distributed, automated, and hyper-connected with fluid collaboration between AI and human processes. Digital utilities will tackle the business challenges of aging infrastructure, a regulatory system in flux, distributed energy resources and the convergence of Information Technology and Operations Technology (IT/OT).

This report explores the steps utilities can take to become and the progress they are making towards building the digital grid as well as:

• How the broad spectrum of digital technologies will impact utility business applications (business strategy, grid operations, IT and communications, and customer) and transform the grid.
• What benefits the utility industry is seeing from implementing digital technologies.
• What the steps are, the challenges are and what the future looks like as a digital utility.