Data is the New Energy: Leveraging data change management to change the game

The energy sector is undergoing its most significant transformation in over a century. As we transition toward a low-carbon future, the grid is becoming more complex, decentralised, and dynamic; powering this future isn’t just electrons, it’s information. Data has become the lifeblood of modern energy systems, enabling utilities to anticipate demand, integrate renewables, and deliver reliable service. In short, data is the new energy.

Data as the New Energy

Transmission System Operators (TSOs) across the globe are tasked with high-voltage grid operations, non-discriminatory market access, system security and infrastructure planning. Their data challenge is multi-dimensional and stems from the complexity of modern grids and energy transition.

• Volume and velocity: TSOs handle terabytes of telemetry each day and maintaining petabyte-scale archives to support forecasting and operations.
• Integration and interoperability: Data arrives in dozens of formats from multiple systems and sources, creating significant complexity.
• Quality and accuracy: Ensuring trustworthy, harmonised data is a constant challenge, as varied inputs and rapid updates increase the risk of inconsistencies and errors.
• Regulatory and transparency: TSOs must meet strict compliance and reporting requirements, to maintain transparency and satisfy evolving regulatory expectations.

That’s why TSOs increasingly rely on advanced tools that can harmonise, compare, and merge vast, fast-moving, and highly varied datasets with accuracy and confidence.

Better data harmonisation can deliver multi-million euro annual savings, faster renewable integration, and improved grid reliability which are all critical for TSOs competing in the energy transition. The ENSO-E imbalance harmonisation study (Cost Benefit Analysis for Electricity Balancing) provides a clear €300–700 million/year benchmark for Europe-wide data optimisation benefits. Other examples suggest multi-million-euro savings per major infrastructure project thanks to streamlined data and standardised processes.

The Challenge

Despite the promise of data, there are significant hurdles to tackle:

• Data heterogeneity in different formats and standards: TSOs often deal with data from SCADA systems, market platforms, asset registries, and external partners, each using different schemas. Legacy systems may store data in proprietary formats, making integration difficult.
• Inconsistent Data Quality: Asset data, outage schedules, or capacity forecasts may be incomplete. Manual updates or outdated systems can lead to discrepancies between datasets.
• Synchronization & Timing: Time-stamped data misalignment between real-time operational data and planning data often have different update cycles. Delays in data exchange between TSOs and Distribution System Operators (DSOs) can cause mismatches during merging.
• Semantic Differences: Different naming conventions of equipment IDs, location codes, and asset classifications vary across organisations. The same parameter (e.g., “capacity”) may have different definitions depending on context.
• Regulatory & Compliance Constraints: TSOs in different jurisdictions must comply with varying regulatory frameworks. Merged datasets must maintain traceability for compliance and reporting.
• Scalability & Performance: High-resolution grid monitoring and forecasting generate massive datasets. Complex merging logic combining operational, planning, and market data requires advanced algorithms.

Without a structured approach to change, data remains an untapped resource and an asset that could accelerate transformation.

Turning Data into Action

The key to unlocking data’s potential lies in structured, data-driven change management. Change management is about both process and confidence in the process, systems, tools and humans in the loop. When regulators, developers, and internal teams trust these, projects move faster, and outcomes improve. DeltaXignia specialises in data/content comparison, merge and change management software, which could be a game changer for TSOs across the globe with their connections process, especially in managing complex, multi-source data and streamlining decision-making.

Our capabilities can support a range of impactful use cases:

• nConsolidate multi-party submissions: Improved data integrity across stakeholders (developers, Distribution Network Operators and Energy System Operators) to automatically identify discrepancies between submissions related to restraints, timelines and technical specifications. Merge consistent data into a unified view for faster validation and flag conflicts or missing elements for resolution.
• Version control for connection applications: Streamline application reviews during the connection process, highlighting changes and ensuring the latest, compliant version is always in use. Highlight what’s been added, removed or modified and ensure that the most current complaint version is used for decision making.
• Grid Impact assessment alignment: Speed up feasibility and system impact evaluations by easily comparing technical assessments from different sources. Aling these assessments, identify outliers and suggest consensus values. Reduce delays caused by conflicting technical evaluations.
• Regulatory and policy synchronisation: Drive automation for regulatory compliance to new policies by comparing legacy applications with new standards. Merge compliant elements and flag outdated or non-compliant sections.
• Enhanced transparency and auditability to meet regulators oversight needs and internal review requirements. Log every comparison and merge action to create clear audit trails for regulators e.g. Ofgem (UK), Bundesnetzagentur (Germany), ENTSO-E (Europe), FERC, NERC (USA), etc.

The Future

The future of the energy transition will be won by those who can turn complexity into clarity. TSOs that overcome data comparison and merge challenges will unlock faster decision-making, greater transparency, and easier integration of renewables. Success will come from managing data intelligently. DeltaXignia’s platform delivers consolidation, version control, alignment, synchronisation and enables predictive, compliance-ready workflows. Agility and trust define leadership, and the winners will be those who transform data into actionable insight. DeltaXignia solutions have stood the test of time for 30 years, trusted by leaders in highly regulated industries to manage their content and data change management at enterprise scale, speed and size with precision accuracy.

Need Support with Data Change Management?

If you’re facing similar challenges like misaligned datasets, slow validation cycles, unclear data lineage, or high-volume data moving faster than your workflows can handle, we’re here to help.

Get in touch and we’ll help you establish a robust change management and traceable data comparison solutions to streamline operations, maintain compliance, and make the most of complex, multi-source datasets.