All the hype surrounding smart grid technology masks a painful reality: Change is often disruptive. While the evolution of digital technology in the energy sector hasn’t always been easy for consumers, it is equally challenging for utilities.


A white paper released by Navigant, a Boulder, Colo.-based research firm, “Smart Grid: 10 Trends to Watch in 2015 and Beyond,” outlines the direction in the industry affecting utilities and smart grid vendors. These trends depict a sector that is doing its best to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, despite internal structures and practices more than a century in the making.


At the top of the list of trends is what Navigant calls “prosumers.” These proactive consumers who install solar panels and drive plug-in electric vehicles are disrupting the traditional utility-consumer dynamic.


The growing use of smart meters is also causing utilities to invest in new technology, infrastructure and programs to manage their relationship with the consumers who use them and the data that they generate.


In addition to smart meters, more utilities are also using distributed intelligence and automation devices to help them manage their grids. They are also jumping on the bandwagon of social media and mobile devices to communicate with their consumers and to encourage participation in demand-management programs.


According to Navigant, the market for vendors who provide smart-grid services to utilities is also growing. The white paper predicts growth in the so-called smart grid as a service market to increase from $1.7 billion to $11.7 billion between 2014 and 2023.


Navigant also projects dynamic demand-response pricing programs to become increasingly commonplace, and it sees a similar rise in flexible alternating current transmission systems.


A variety of situational awareness applications will enable utilities to monitor grids at a much faster pace in the coming years, with data being gathered at intervals of 30–60 times per second, as opposed to 4- and 5-second intervals.


Despite a trend toward deregulation, regulatory reform will apply pressure on utilities to change.


Finally, while the United States and Canada have been leading the charge for smart grid deployment, Navigant expects significant growth in Europe, Asia and Latin America in the coming years.