ScottMadden, Inc., one of North America’s leading management consulting firms specializing in energy, has released its latest edition of The Energy Industry Update (EIU). Themed, “Take It to the Limit,” this EIU explores how the energy industry could be “taken to the limit” by trends that predate the current COVID-19 pandemic and will remain relevant in the long-term.

The theme, which was selected prior to COVID-19 (and rings truer now more than ever), uncovers how factors, such as the state-by-state advances in clean energy standards, proposed moratoria and restrictions on natural gas expansion, slow progress on resilience issues, and more, may take the utility industry to its limit of financial, regulatory, and operational wherewithal. And, how new technologies, like hydrogen, may challenge the limits of what is possible.

In this report, ScottMadden offers the latest on how the industry is approaching:

100% clean energy and net zero emissions goals

Resilience and the grid

Issues affecting the future of the gas utility

Gas resource plans considering environmental and efficiency objectives

Lessons learned from Hawaii about a renewables-heavy grid

Recent FERC policy changes to power transmission equity returns

“Certainly COVID-19 has transfixed the industry for now as utilities grapple with the operational and financial effects of the pandemic. However, trends, such as ambitious emissions reduction targets and resilience planning, will continue over the long-term, challenging business-as-usual approaches,” says Cristin Lyons, partner and energy practice leader at ScottMadden.