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Digital & Advanced Analytics

We help energy clients transform into digital utilities by unlocking the value of advanced analytics, automation, mobile enablement, the cloud, design thinking, and agile.

Technological innovation, deregulation, slowing demand, and changing user expectations are opening up more and more opportunities for innovation, differentiation, and disruption in the utility sector and putting traditional operating models under stress.

Digital offers a new way of operating that optimizes performance across the entire value chain through step-change improvements in safety, customer satisfaction, compliance, reliability, and affordability.

Our work extends from quick, small-scale efforts—conducting a digital diagnostic or creating a functioning prototype to solve a business problem in a matter of weeks—to helping a utility reinvent its operations through agile working methods or build a whole new digital business from scratch.

As the world’s leading consultancy to the energy sector, we have completed more than 1,770 projects on multiple topics across all parts of the power and gas value chain since 2010.

How we work

We combine decades of service to the utility sector with extensive experience supporting leading companies from all industries as they rethink the art of the possible through digitization.

We are one of the world’s leading digital providers. We have more than 1,000 data analysts working across industries and capabilities, as well as McKinsey Digital Labs, with hundreds of product owners, architects, designers, and programmers who support our work with clients.

Drawing on our global client experience, we also develop tools such as Utilityx, an advanced-analytics solution taking users to the leading edge of asset management and predictive maintenance. Utilityx enables clients to optimize asset monitoring and inspection frequency, routine and corrective maintenance, and replacement decisions to deliver better uptime performance at lower cost.

Our digital expertise spans every step, from value-creation estimates, analytical modeling, and insight generation to rapid prototype development, “test and learn” pilots with customers, and final products. We work hand in hand with each client to source digital talent, build in-house capabilities, and create a digital enterprise fit for the energy future.

Examples of our work

Building a Digital Hub

At one large electric and gas utility, we helped build a digital hub to transform field capabilities, beginning with asset inspection. The client developed a prototype solution in four months and put the first app into production in just 30 days. The program is set to save 15–20 percent of the utility’s asset inspection budget.

Developing a Health Index

At another utility, we helped develop a health index for individual assets, a criticality index to measure the impact of asset failure, and integrated expert-system models to determine optimal maintenance and replacement decisions. The utility expects to save 20–30 percent in operating expenses and 10–15 percent in capital expenditures annually.

Asset Risk Management Analytics

Learn how an easy-to-use asset management web application tool is helping actual field workers access valuable health and risk data across assets.

Customer Outage Response

This short video showcases an example of a digital outage app from the customer, field worker, and operations center perspectives.

Featured Perspective

The Digital Utility

New challenges, capabilities, and opportunities

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Connect with our Electric Power & Natural Gas Practice