From Collection To Connection: How Energy Utilities Can Become Data Orchestrators

InnovationFrom Collection To Connection: How Energy Utilities Can Become Data OrchestratorsByAbhay Gupta,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 10, 2026, 10:15am EDTAbhay Gupta is cofounder and CEO of Bidgely, evolving energy analytics for utilities with the power of data and artificial intelligence. getty​For the past decade, the utility industry has been in a massive data collection phase. Billions have been invested in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), followed by a heavy lift to migrate that information into platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks and AWS.​This effort has successfully moved the industry from a mindset of data scarcity to one of data abundance. It is a high-value problem to have, and the next logical step is to activate these vast data lakes so that the sheer scale of information enhances visibility rather than obscures it.​The timing couldn’t be more critical. As unprecedented load growth, infrastructure limitations and affordability mandates intersect, the priority has shifted. It has become more important for utilities to move beyond simply warehousing data to operationalizing it as a tool for real-time problem-solving.​Utility leaders are asking:• How do we convert these assets into tangible value?• How do we deliver meaningful outcomes to the customers we serve today?• How do we scale that value across the entire enterprise?Bridging The Gap Between Big Data And Tangible Value​I've seen more utilities begin turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to help answer these questions, ensuring that data isn't just sitting in a silo but actively working to make the entire organization more agile and informed. Because AI can help map precisely when and how energy is consumed, utilities can pivot from being data collectors to data orchestrators.Take load shaping versus load shif...