At A Glance
Explore energy and utilities industry trends for 2026, focusing on digital services and evolving customer demands in the sector.Utilities are managing elevated arrears, expanding digital service channels and shifting grid demand patterns at the same time. These developments are appearing at key points, including service starts, billing and collections.
Energy and utilities industry trends for 2026 reflect how these dynamics are surfacing across the customer lifecycle and influencing broader planning decisions.
Energy and utilities trends shaping the industry
The state of energy and utilities 2026 reflects a sector adapting to financial exposure, fraud risk and demand variability across both regulated and deregulated markets.
Rising arrearages
Arrearage levels across the utilities sector are estimated at approximately $23 billion. Economic uncertainty may be contributing to a rise in arrearages, often reflected in delayed payments, extended repayment plans or variability in monthly collections.
Digital expansion introduces new risk considerations
As utilities expand digital service channels and self-service tools, identity-based fraud risk may appear during digital service starts and account changes, particularly as more interactions shift online.
Fraud behaviors are becoming more sophisticated
More complex fraud patterns, including synthetic identities, name game fraud and prior bad debt, may span multiple points of the customer journey, making risk more difficult to detect.
Grid demand uncertainty
In certain regions, data center expansion may influence load forecasting and long-term infrastructure planning timelines. Data centers consumed approximately 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023 and are projected to account for between 6.7% and 12% by 2028, reflecting the potential scale of demand shifts utilities may be evaluating.
What these trends signal for utility planning
Together, these energy and utilities industry trends 2026 highlight where risk could first emerge.
- When risk indicators appear during service start, screening before service starts may help reduce downstream exposure rather than relying only on collections-based controls.
- As more interactions shift online, identity risk may be harder to identify without stronger verification.
- When fraud spans from service start through collections, visibility across systems becomes more important.
- As grid demand grows, planning for reliability may require adjustments to how forecasting and infrastructure decisions are informed.
Enabling data-driven utility decisions
To navigate these energy sector trends, utilities may benefit from a more connected view of identity, risk and customer behavior. Experian supports providers with data-driven energy and utilities solutions designed to help reduce losses, strengthen customer trust and support utility fraud prevention across the customer lifecycle.
For a closer look at how these themes are unfolding across the sector, explore our 2026 State of Energy and Utilities Report, which examines each trend in greater depth through data-driven insights and industry examples.
Read our first-ever State of Energy and Utilities Report examining the forces shaping the industry this year.