# Keynote Case Study: SAP Utilities — The Grid Is Being Rewired By Renewables + Storage
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At SAP's 2017 utilities conference in California, futurist Jim Carroll spoke to roughly 500 energy, water and wastewater executives about the massive disruption underway across generation, storage and grid design. The Grid Is Being Rewired By Renewables + Storage Utilities make long-lived infrastructure decisions while renewable generation, batteries, microgrids and intelligent-grid technologies move rapidly. Jim's keynote framed the shift plainly: energy infrastructure is moving from centralized and predictable toward distributed, intelligent and increasingly dynamic. Six trends are shaping that shift. Renewable Generation. Solar and wind accelerate the shift toward a more diverse and distributed generation mix. Battery Storage. Improving storage changes how utilities can balance supply, demand and intermittent generation. Microgrids. Localized energy systems challenge the assumption that all power must flow through one centralized model. Intelligent Grids. More sensing, data and automation make the grid increasingly observable and responsive. Grid Parity. Changing technology economics bring alternative generation closer to traditional cost structures. Water + Wastewater. The same digital and infrastructure forces are reshaping adjacent utility systems beyond electricity. The utility future is more distributed, more digital and more dependent on storage, data and intelligent infrastructure, Jim told the SAP Utilities audience. It's the frame that reshaped how many attendees thought about their own capital planning. Explore more keynote case studies.

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Source: https://jimcarroll.com/2017/04/sap-utilities-2017-past/