By Mani Vadari The Future of Distribution Operations and Planning The Electric Utility Environment Is Changing U UTILITIES ARE IN THE THROES OF SOME PHENOMENAL CHANGES. Technology is transforming, organizations are changing, and both utilities and vendors are undergoing mergers and acquisitions. In transmission, this change started with the advent of the wholesale markets in the mid-1990s. In distribution, it started with the advent of the smart grid around 2005 but accelerated in the last few years. New York's Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) and California's Better Than Smart initiative are bringing about major changes in both U.S. states. If renewable portfolio standards were a major move in the right direction, they have shown the ability to make dramatic changes for their respective states, and the rest of the United States is watching. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2019.2945344 Date of current version: 7 January 2020 18 ieee power & energy magazine 1540-7977/20©2020IEEE january/february 2020