Shaping the future: promoting change within the electric utility industry

An economic crisis with Alberta´s oil, gas, and petrochemical industry has produced a change in the business outlook of electric utilities. The industry´s challenge was to create a new customer-supplier relationship based on trust. Creating this new relationship was premised on extending the vulnerability beyond the oil and gas industry being served by the monopoly to include the electric suppliers. Actions resulting from this change are assisting in the survival of the oil and gas industry in the near term and are potentially creating an opportunity for both the oil and gas industry and the electric utility industry to thrive. A case study in shaping the future of two interdependent industries is presented. The study explores the history behind the crisis, the catalysts for change, and how this new relationship is improving business results