Utilities (electricity, gas, water)

The utility industry faces regional consolidation and calls for a reduction in its environmental impact. Companies in this sector also need to develop renewable sources of energy, improve their use of resources, develop climate strategies and manage their reputations.

Issues

• Reputation management, especially in the field of water
• Access to clean water supplies and financing of water and sanitation
• Climate strategy, and renewable energy and energy efficiency
• Bio-diversity and environmental impacts of operations
• Social/community impact
• Pricing (accessibility)

Client examples

Regional US public power authority

We assessed the effectiveness of the environmental compliance-management programme and code of conduct for a business that includes fossil fuel, wind and hydroelectric generation assets, as well as transmission and distribution operations. We benchmarked particular aspects of the authority’s environmental compliance-management programmes with those of other regional electric utilities as a basis for identifying improvement opportunities, which included changes to its existing controls, processes and organisational structure.

European electricity-producer association

We helped establish a simulation of a carbon market system, before any such markets existed. This included the design of carbon-trading rules (which subsequently formed the basis for current systems), the use of a trading platform modified for the circumstances by our business partner, and training of more than 20 users from both trading and sustainability departments. We held various debriefing sessions with authorities in order to favour the emergence of such a platform and systems in Europe, responding to the needs of the industry and addressing NGOs’ concerns.

Regional US gas/electric utility company

We identified opportunities for improvement and re-design of EHS-related functions for this client. EHS organisation and staffing levels were benchmarked to provide a basis for recommendations, which also addressed the potential merger with a national gas production/transmission company.

Regional European power company

We assessed the feasibility of upgrading the company’s current EHS management system using SAP’s EHS module as the platform. This involved examining the existing EHS management structure and system in order to identify the best fit between standard SAP R/3 functionality, SAP EH&S and existing EHS management packages.