The utilities industry is going through a transition phase currently where customers expect complete transparency from their providers. To this end Data Science can be an extremely valuable tool for a utilities company.

Through Customer Segmentation you are able to predict how customers will act in the future through behaviour and engagement analytics. Having this sort of granular view of a customer means that rates can be individually tailored and consumption trends can be understood more effectively. Understanding these consumption trends through Data Science can help a business optimise its overall efficiency.

Through the use of Data Analytics organisations can understand their customers more than ever before. This means that they are able to manage campaigns more effectively by connecting the right offers to the right customers.

Companies are also able to use customer data combined with Social Media Analytics to gauge customer sentiment and campaign effectiveness as well.

The Smart Grid is a big topic in the utilities space and combined with the correct data analytics the Smart Grid allows for the use of Predictive Maintenance and Predictive Power Outages. Employing these methods can help to identify equipment heading for failure and step in before it becomes a problem. Using this sort of maintenance scheduling can help reduce network failure, unexpected down time and even the overall costs when compared to preventative maintenance schedules.

A key area of continual improvement for utilities companies is that of Energy Procurement. Data Science can help businesses optimise this process through Predictive Data Analytics.