At last week’s meeting of a Tennessee Valley Authority advisory panel — the 20-delegate Regional Energy Resource Council — the convened utility executives, environmental advocates, government officials and academics did not have deep discussions about the new East Tennessee nuclear reactor’s progress coming online. They did not discuss the wind energy company that wants to run a pipeline from Oklahoma to deliver clean energy to the TVA grid, nor problematic coal-ash storage in Gallatin.
What they did discuss was Marriott. What should the hotel conglomerate do about Airbnb becoming a Venus flytrap and swallowing up its customer base? They talked about Verizon and its market vulnerability to Wi-Fi hotspots and VOIP. And they ruminated about medallioned cabbies losing customers by the carload to Uber, Lyft and other startups in on-demand transportation.
Council members were charged with finding solutions, and the ideas posited were more strategically offensive than dig-in-your-heels defensive: copy the startups a bit, offer similar customer experiences, innovate and expand in new directions.
It was easy for utility advisers to see the dire need for change for the hotelier, the 4G network and the yellow cabs, and to devise a strategy to stay relevant. When the big guns in an industry can’t change with the times and lose sight of their increasingly savvy customers, there is room for massive industry disruption by innovative, nimble, tech-savvy startups. The war for market share happens quickly, and the aftermath may not be pretty for the old guard. Ask Blockbuster or Kodak. The new consumer wants what they want when they want it, accessible by smartphone — and make that custom, please. Or else.
The exercise was also given to TVA management, and it couldn’t come at a more opportune time. It was a chance to look outward and then reflect inward. Right now utility companies all over the country are in a similar quandary. The industry was happily providing largely fossil-fueled energy when customers started asking for cleaner energy sources, and the Environmental Protection Agency stepped in to demand that the utilities clean up their act. The EPA’s Clean Power Plan might be held up in court at the moment, but federal carbon emission regulation is looming over the industry.
Customers want solar, they want wind, they have sustainability goals at the office, and they have a conscience at home. Many acknowledge that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are climbing and humans are responsible. They want a utility company that is responsive to their concerns.
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