Article

Grid Planning Reduces Customer Minutes Lost by 40%

Our flexible, end-to-end approach has helped utilities achieve breakthrough results across all their key objectives.

By Dedra Casey, Olga Muscat, Alec Brown, and Edward Stone

min read


Utilities face more pressures than ever. The energy transition requires them to not only enable electrification but mitigate environmental impacts, all while maintaining a safe and reliable grid that meets increasing customer expectations. Many have responded by turning to us for help with grid planning, and have achieved impressive results: a 40% reduction in CML (customer minutes lost), a 10% reduction in distribution and operations maintenance cost per customer, and a 25% increase in capital efficiency, to cite just three. Meeting the energy needs of the future demands a new approach, one that goes beyond the software-centric solutions offered by most grid planning optimizers. We start by working with you to develop a tailored grid strategy that meets your unique needs and clarifies your investment decision making; then, we cleanse your data and help you redefine your process with powerful AI technology, ensuring you get the most out of our highly configurable grid capital planning optimization engine. Our approach transforms grid planning. It fosters powerful synergy between your teams and your data to optimize grid investments across the asset lifecycle, and helps you build new capabilities rather than industrialize old ones. It also facilitates increased transparency, empowering you to have more proactive conversations with regulators and key suppliers in today’s more constrained environments. "We achieved a 40%-plus reduction in the duration and frequency of outages on [select] circuits, and had regulatory submissions successfully approved.” Our clients have embraced our approach. “Left to our own devices, we would have created complex, over-engineered processes, with little focus on outcomes,” one utility executive says. “Bain helped us get to a plan in just a few short months. They figured out our systems and what data we had and worked closely with our teams to develop a plan within those parameters. We achieved a 40%-plus reduction in the duration and frequency of outages on [select] circuits, and had regulatory submissions successfully approved.” Planning to execution: a holistic approach Traditional grid planning often suffers from a lack of clear objectives, siloed programs, and limited regulatory interaction. In contrast, our fully integrated approach emphasizes clear, customer-centric investment goals and provides viable scenarios to compare trade-offs across multiple needs. This enables senior decision makers and regulatory drafters to clearly see the trade-offs being made across alternative investment scenarios, and the rationale for the grid capital plan ultimately selected. Among the key elements we address: Engineering and design: Develop detailed investment plans based on a thorough analysis of reliability, loading, age, and risk factors at the circuit level. Field crew management: Create long-term staffing and scheduling models based on grid capital plans. Supply chain readiness: Create a long-term procurement strategy that minimizes disruptions, lowers costs, and increases sourcing certainty. Regulatory and stakeholder alignment: Foster continuous engagement with regulators and stakeholders to avoid penalties and ensure transparency and buy-in. Organizational readiness: Embed new tools, systems, and processes within the organization to ensure successful delivery and repeatability of the investment plan. Our approach is supported by our in-house advanced analytics and machine-learning teams as well as our powerful best-of-breed optimization solutions, including the aforementioned grid capital planning tool. This unrivaled combination of expertise and technology is designed to generate quick, substantive results. From increased capacity and improved reliability and asset health to reduced environmental impacts, our grid planning approach can help you meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. And grid planning is just one of the ways we support distribution companies. We also bring industry-leading expertise in regulatory filings, procurement excellence, operational enhancements, and digital/AI deployment. Industry Grid Capital Planning As grid investments grow, so do stakeholder expectations. We help you assess funding trade-offs and develop an optimal grid strategy. We do all this in a highly collaborative way that ensures you develop the internal capabilities you need to continually build on your success. “Bain brought our entire organization along on the approach,” one client says, “helping us develop an optimized capital plan that is top-notch.” Discover how the right tools, technology, and process changes can help you meet your unique objectives and design scenarios and drive sustained bottom-line results.

Utilities face more pressures than ever. The energy transition requires them to not only enable electrification but mitigate environmental impacts, all while maintaining a safe and reliable grid that meets increasing customer expectations. Many have responded by turning to us for help with grid planning, and have achieved impressive results: a 40% reduction in CML (customer minutes lost), a 10% reduction in distribution and operations maintenance cost per customer, and a 25% increase in capital efficiency, to cite just three.

Meeting the energy needs of the future demands a new approach, one that goes beyond the software-centric solutions offered by most grid planning optimizers. We start by working with you to develop a tailored grid strategy that meets your unique needs and clarifies your investment decision making; then, we cleanse your data and help you redefine your process with powerful AI technology, ensuring you get the most out of our highly configurable grid capital planning optimization engine.

Our approach transforms grid planning. It fosters powerful synergy between your teams and your data to optimize grid investments across the asset lifecycle, and helps you build new capabilities rather than industrialize old ones. It also facilitates increased transparency, empowering you to have more proactive conversations with regulators and key suppliers in today’s more constrained environments.

"We achieved a 40%-plus reduction in the duration and frequency of outages on [select] circuits, and had regulatory submissions successfully approved.”

Our clients have embraced our approach. “Left to our own devices, we would have created complex, over-engineered processes, with little focus on outcomes,” one utility executive says. “Bain helped us get to a plan in just a few short months. They figured out our systems and what data we had and worked closely with our teams to develop a plan within those parameters. We achieved a 40%-plus reduction in the duration and frequency of outages on [select] circuits, and had regulatory submissions successfully approved.”

Planning to execution: a holistic approach

Traditional grid planning often suffers from a lack of clear objectives, siloed programs, and limited regulatory interaction. In contrast, our fully integrated approach emphasizes clear, customer-centric investment goals and provides viable scenarios to compare trade-offs across multiple needs. This enables senior decision makers and regulatory drafters to clearly see the trade-offs being made across alternative investment scenarios, and the rationale for the grid capital plan ultimately selected.

Among the key elements we address:

Engineering and design: Develop detailed investment plans based on a thorough analysis of reliability, loading, age, and risk factors at the circuit level.
Field crew management: Create long-term staffing and scheduling models based on grid capital plans.
Supply chain readiness: Create a long-term procurement strategy that minimizes disruptions, lowers costs, and increases sourcing certainty.
Regulatory and stakeholder alignment: Foster continuous engagement with regulators and stakeholders to avoid penalties and ensure transparency and buy-in.
Organizational readiness: Embed new tools, systems, and processes within the organization to ensure successful delivery and repeatability of the investment plan.

Our approach is supported by our in-house advanced analytics and machine-learning teams as well as our powerful best-of-breed optimization solutions, including the aforementioned grid capital planning tool. This unrivaled combination of expertise and technology is designed to generate quick, substantive results. From increased capacity and improved reliability and asset health to reduced environmental impacts, our grid planning approach can help you meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. And grid planning is just one of the ways we support distribution companies. We also bring industry-leading expertise in regulatory filings, procurement excellence, operational enhancements, and digital/AI deployment.

Power transmission towers stretching across purple hills under a cloudy sky

Industry

Grid Capital Planning

As grid investments grow, so do stakeholder expectations. We help you assess funding trade-offs and develop an optimal grid strategy.

We do all this in a highly collaborative way that ensures you develop the internal capabilities you need to continually build on your success. “Bain brought our entire organization along on the approach,” one client says, “helping us develop an optimized capital plan that is top-notch.” Discover how the right tools, technology, and process changes can help you meet your unique objectives and design scenarios and drive sustained bottom-line results.