How Technology Is Transforming Utilities ... And Helping Energy Purchasers

Abstract

Competition had ne ver been an issue for utilities which, as in-
stitutions, were prototypical of the solid, slow moving bureaucracies
that allowed few internal changes or outside ideas. The competition
caused b y impending deregulation and new technologies forced utili-
ties to wake up and take note. Unlike the Microsoft monopoly which
is on the cutting edge of progress, the utilit y monopolies wanted and
needed "bus iness as usual." It took courage for the few utilities w h ich
chose to take on the challenge of transforming themsel ves and the ir
serv ices to accommodate the progress of the industry.
As a rule, ut ilities had been bu sinesses where un ion co ntra cts were
generously negotiated, emp loymen t life-time, raises steady, the admin is-
trative staffs bloa ted, an d rate increases pr edictable. Yet, PG&E, a utility
in the San Francisco area, began ins talling 100,000 CellNet electric and
gas meters , and ha d p lan s to au toma te all 8 mill ion meters in its terri-
tory. In an ar ticle en tit led " Req u iem for Me te r Read ers?" Jon ath an
Marsha ll rep ort s in The Sail Fra ncisco Chro nicle that the 850 doo r to do or
meter readers w ill even tua lly lose their jobs. PG&E's Project Ma nage r
for au toma ted meter read in gs, Mark Hu ghes, said that the ut ility has
agreed to r etr ain the wo rkers and give them firs t crack a t new jobs.