In the power and utilities sector, connecting critical business data to strategic decisions is essential to remain competitive. However, without the right tools, organizations risk overlooking key insights.

Data visualization tools and dashboards are revolutionizing how utilities access, view, and analyze high volumes of financial and operational data. Modern visualization software, like Power BI and Tableau, can transform manual, spreadsheet-heavy processes into automated, streamlined dashboards and reports to help drive results. Data analytics is a tool that empowers utilities to turn massive data sets into insights that drive organization-wide decision-making.

Explore common financial and operational data challenges in the utilities space and discover how dashboards can help you overcome them to save time, cut costs, and deliver deeper insights.

Industry Challenges

Utilities gather immense amounts of data as part of running daily operations, so extracting data, assembling spreadsheets, and building reports are common time-consuming tasks.

Many finance professionals rely on spreadsheets because of their ease-of-use for short-term or experimental analyses; however, these tools come with significant drawbacks. For recurring processes and handling large datasets—such as tracking water distribution costs, electricity generation expenses, or infrastructure maintenance schedules—spreadsheets can create inefficiencies and potential errors, limiting insights and slowing down decision-making.

As spreadsheet-based reporting grows more complex, it often demands increased time and effort, especially when repetitive processes and multifaceted analyses are involved. Over time, these manual processes can consume up to 40+ hours a month, further compounding issues.

This increase in manual handling not only slows workflows but also introduces a higher risk of errors. Modern work pressures—such as distractions, remote work, and a faster pace—can exacerbate these challenges, leading to missed insights or a breakdown in trust regarding reporting accuracy and reliability, ultimately impacting operational effectiveness.

The Benefits of Dashboards

While spreadsheets will always have their place for quick, one-off tasks, dashboards offer utilities a far more powerful way to manage and interpret data. Developing dashboards specifically tailored to address the unique challenges of the utilities landscape helps answer critical questions with precision.

Visualize Trends and Key Metrics

Dashboards enable organizations to visualize trends in revenue, customer growth, expense allocation, and operational metrics.

Rather than simply viewing raw numbers, dashboard solutions provide a dynamic view of key performance indicators—such as consumption patterns, outage maps, infrastructure maintenance costs, or energy distribution metrics—allowing management to track fluctuations in critical areas and make data-driven adjustments in real time.

Capitalize on Underutilized Data

Many utilities hold a wealth of data that often remains underutilized due to time constraints or the limitations of traditional spreadsheet analysis and accounting systems.

Dashboards streamline access to both current and historical data, making it easier to identify hidden trends or patterns that can inform strategic decisions—such as improving resource allocation or predicting peak usage times.

Unlock Real-Time Decision-Making

Dashboards provide teams with instant access to real-time data, enabling faster reporting and the ability to answer complex questions quickly from customers, regulators, and board members. This flexibility allows teams to concentrate on higher-level insights rather than manual data processing, leading to more proactive and strategic decision-making.

Enhance Business Intelligence and Analysis

A well-developed dashboard system enables deeper insights into public utilities-specific metrics such as operating expenses, capital expenditures on infrastructure, and performance ratios across different service areas.

Utilities companies can swiftly adapt to new inquiries by expanding existing dashboards or creating new ones. Ad hoc analyses—which would typically require significant manual work using spreadsheets—become manageable and immediate.

Automate Updates and Scheduled Reporting

Dashboard solutions enable utilities to schedule data refreshes during off-peak times, reducing system impact. Automated updates and email notifications allow you to start each day with a concise report on your top metrics, enhancing your team's efficiency and focus.

Below are examples of how dashboard solutions can provide summary data across multiple functions and capture drill-down capabilities.

Customer Insights Dashboard

This dashboard provides real-time insights into revenue and average revenue per user (ARPU) trends, comparing monthly performance against the previous year to highlight growth and seasonal patterns.

Plant Investment Analysis Dashboard

This dashboard provides a detailed breakdown of annual and monthly plant-related spending, highlighting trends across various cost categories to support operational and financial analysis.

Balance Sheet Overview

This financial dashboard provides a side-by-side comparison of current month and prior year asset allocations and capital structure, highlighting shifts in key components like plant, equity, and long-term debt, making for an easy budget-to-actual analysis.

These ad hoc analytics tools offer the ability to access multiple sources of proven data instantly. As a result, questions are answered quickly and with the useful context.

We’re Here to Help

To learn how dashboards can benefit your public utilities organization and the best way to integrate them into your operations, contact your Moss Adams professional.

Additional Resources

• Power & Utilities Practice
• Artificial Intelligence Services