Data Partners Seek Insight From North America’s Power Grid

BHC Global and NET2GRID expand collaboration to help utilities use smart-meter data amid rising demand

9 Dec 2025

BHC Global and NET2GRID have expanded their partnership to help North American utilities draw clearer insight from the growing volume of data produced by smart meters, as operators face mounting pressure to strengthen and modernise the grid.

Utilities across the region are reassessing planning and daily operations as demand rises from data centres and electric vehicles, while severe weather continues to expose weak points in local networks. These trends have increased interest in tools that can show how distribution systems perform in real time, even though it remains uncertain which technologies will prove most effective.

Smart meters collect detailed information on household and business consumption, but much of the material is not yet used in operational decisions. The partners aim to combine BHC’s experience in utility processes with NET2GRID’s analytics tools to convert raw meter data into more practical indicators, such as early warnings of equipment stress, improved peak-demand forecasts and signals of neighbourhoods at higher risk of outages.

Utilities hope such insight could reduce service interruptions and support more accurate efficiency programmes for customers. Public disclosures, however, have offered limited evidence of large-scale results, and sector analysts have cautioned that greater reliance on external vendors could complicate long-term system design.

Regulators are monitoring the developments. Authorities continue to examine how utilities handle customer data and whether new digital tools comply with rules on privacy and transparency. Supporters of the collaboration argue that sound governance can balance those concerns against potential gains in resilience and planning.

The partnership reflects a wider shift across the continent’s energy sector toward data-driven decision making. If BHC Global and NET2GRID can demonstrate practical improvements in grid management, their approach may draw broader interest. For now, the collaboration signals an industry searching for methods to guide a more responsive power system amid rapid structural change.