Accelerating energization: How utilities can streamline service and expand capacity

5-minute read

As electrification continues to expand—fueled by increasing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and charging stations, growth in data centers, new housing development, and clean energy initiatives—utilities face growing expectations to accelerate new service connections. Regulatory requirements like California’s SB410 underscore this trend, and other states are exploring similar measures.

Streamlining energization yields greater operational efficiency, more consistent project delivery, and stronger relationships with customers and communities. Current long timelines stem from EV charging process approvals with other distributed energy resources (DERs), growing energization demand, supply chain issues, and grid reliability. Modernizing these processes positions utilities to improve service performance while adapting to a rapidly evolving energy landscape.

The benefits of faster energization

Delays in service activation have a ripple effect, stalling development projects, raising costs, and straining relationships. When customers know what to expect and can track progress with builder portals and project dashboards, their experience improves significantly. For customers, accelerated timelines can:

• Shorten construction schedules for homes and businesses.
• Provide greater clarity on project status and next steps.
• Increase confidence in the utility’s responsiveness and reliability.

On the utility side, streamlined energization enables providers to:

• Optimize use of field resources and project management staff.
• Reduce backlog and lower administrative overhead.
• Improve coordination with developers, local governments, and permitting agencies.
• Provide better data for decision-making and regulatory reporting.

Faster energization also supports broader strategic goals, including EV adoption, distributed energy integration, and grid stability during peak periods.

Three pillars for accelerating energization

To improve energization timelines and meet evolving expectations, utilities must focus on three interconnected pillars: distribution planning, energization process and timeline, and eventually, energization cost recovery. Addressing all three areas creates the foundation for improved service delivery, regulatory readiness, and customer satisfaction.

1. Distribution planning: Aligning infrastructure with forecasted demand

Many energization delays stem from a gap between forecasted growth and available grid capacity. Without coordinated planning and proactive investment, utilities risk falling behind as development accelerates.

One key step is working with city and regional planning departments to forecast upcoming construction and population growth, which allows utilities to anticipate where and when demand will emerge. Forecasting practices are evolving to include DER, EV, and construction activity inputs.

To ensure readiness, many providers proactively identify long lead-time equipment—such as transformers or switchgear—and place bulk orders in advance. Integrating housing development, load, and capital planning data into shared dashboards helps cross-functional teams align around where infrastructure investment is most needed. These dashboards also serve as a trigger for capital project readiness, ensuring utilities can act before service timelines are impacted.

How Logic20/20 supports this pillar:

• Delivering bottoms-up, data-driven load and DER forecasts to improve precision at the circuit level
• Integrating regulatory and policy variables into forecasting models to support compliance and proactive scenario planning
• Supporting scenario-based forecasting to explore the impact of development trends and infrastructure investment options
• Facilitating cross-team dashboard development that brings together planning, engineering, and housing growth data to inform capital triggers

Article continues below

2. Energization process and timeline: Reducing delays through visibility and coordination

Even when infrastructure is in place, energization can be delayed by fragmented internal processes, inconsistent communication, and limited transparency for customers. Utilities that focus on standardizing timelines and improving coordination stand to gain significant efficiency and trust from stakeholders.

To improve consistency, providers are establishing service level agreements (SLAs) that set both minimum and maximum response times. Assigning a dedicated project manager at the outset of a builder or developer project helps the utility maintain accountability and provides customers with a single point of contact. At the same time, digital tools such as builder services portals allow customers to upload documentation, track project status, and communicate directly with utility teams—reducing manual back-and-forth and cutting delays. Self-service features can reduce inbound call volume and enhance the overall customer experience.

Internally, dashboards help utility teams monitor progress and respond more quickly to bottlenecks. These tools not only improve coordination across functions, but also support better decision-making and faster resolution of potential issues.

How Logic20/20 supports this pillar:

• Building customer-facing portals that consolidate documentation, communication, and project status updates in a single location
• Developing internal visibility tools to help teams track energization progress, timelines, and delay causes across projects
• Supporting SLA creation and energization metric definition aligned with regulatory expectations and performance targets
• Implementing digital self-service tools that reduce inbound inquiries and improve customer transparency
• Delivering portfolio-level dashboards and reports that support PMO oversight and compliance monitoring

3. Energization cost recovery: Creating audit-ready documentation and processes

As scrutiny increases around energization timelines and costs, utilities must ensure their cost recovery processes are consistent, transparent, and aligned with regulatory expectations. Disjointed data collection or inconsistent documentation can create compliance risks and make it harder to recover legitimate project costs.

Standardized cost capture methods help many providers ensure energization-related expenses are traceable and audit-ready. Clear documentation practices—regardless of which team manages a project—are essential for maintaining data integrity and compliance confidence.

By linking energization timelines to cost recovery reports and SLAs, providers can strengthen oversight and demonstrate accountability. This visibility supports more accurate reporting and fosters regulatory confidence. Centralized dashboards also play a growing role in surfacing the metrics needed for real-time governance and long-term reporting.

How Logic20/20 supports this pillar:

• Implementing automated data capture systems to standardize and trace labor, material, and overhead costs
• Building dashboards that centralize visibility for PMO, finance, and regulatory stakeholders
• Linking operational milestones to cost tracking to align with energization SLAs and improve transparency
• Supporting compliance documentation and audit preparation through structured reporting tools

Laying the groundwork for lasting improvements

Faster energization depends on strengthening the systems, data, and coordination that support every new connection. By focusing on accurate distribution planning, customer process efficiency, and robust cost recovery, utilities can address both immediate pressures and long-term goals with clarity and confidence.

Each pillar offers opportunities to reduce delays, improve transparency, and prepare for future infrastructure and load growth. However, lasting impact depends on connecting these areas through shared data, clear accountability, and purpose-built tools. Whether they are responding to new development, meeting regulatory timelines, or managing rising demand, utilities that take an integrated approach to energization will be better positioned to scale—and to serve.