Deloitte’s 2022 outlook for power and utilities in the United States is forecasting continuing movement towards a cleaner, more reliable and resilient grid.
The company’s annual industry outlook takes a detailed look at how digital technologies, market developments and government investment in next-generation energy technologies can help pave the way. In 2022, it says the tough challenges remain: boosting clean energy, ensuring reliability and resiliency and maintaining security while keeping costs down.
The Deloitte report says that tackling the clean energy transformation is a tall order. It predicts the electric power industry will continue to advance in its “3D” transformation: decarbonization, digitalization, and decentralization.
“We’ll be watching for technology deployments to advance and markets to evolve. Industry spending will likely remain high, and renewable penetration could accelerate further,” the report states.
Natural gas continues to dominate the U.S. generation mix, fueling 35 per cent of electricity generated in the first half of 2021, with renewables second at 23 per cent.
The industry took a big step forward in its quest to provide cleaner electricity, adding 13.8 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity in the first half of 2021, up about 28 per cent from the same period in 2020.
The report explores five trends that will likely impact the industry in 2022, from enhancing decarbonization and resiliency strategies, to deploying 5G and cloud technologies, to harnessing flexible load and supporting building electrification.
In the policy arena, the report states that while federal renewable tax credits have underpinned the clean energy transition to date and will likely evolve further in 2022, “we’ll also be watching the potential impact of additional federal policy, investment and regulatory support.”